MEXICO CITY – George Russell was “grateful” to be on the front row for the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix, but revealed a crucial decision by Mercedes that ultimately cost him pole position.

The Brit will line-up second behind old teammate Lewis Hamilton, who secured his maiden pole for Ferrari, to set up a mouthwatering prospect for the race on Sunday.

Ferrari’s smaller turbo, combined with the high altitude at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, placed them in the driving seat for pole, and favourites for victory.

But the Silver Arrows combated the Scuderia’s charge well, an unwell Andrea Kimi Antonelli fourth, behind Charles Leclerc in third.

Russell explained that he may have duly taken pole himself, but a choice from the team to carry one lap’s worth of fuel for a preparation lap might have made the difference.

“Yeah, that was probably the biggest thing that I changed,” he told media, including Motorsport Week, in the post-qualifying press conference. “I saw Lewis and Charles, and Max as well, they weren’t doing the prep lap. We were doing prep laps. Just getting the temperature of the tyre is quite challenging. 

“My gut told me we could do it on lap one without the preparation. But the team wanted to do the prep, so we ended up carrying the fuel for an extra lap.

“So it’s such a small number, but it’s bigger than the gap to pole. So it’s obviously, you always think retrospectively, if only we had the one lap of fuel rather than the extra lap of fuel like we had, we could have been on pole.”

Russell acknowledged there was no ill-feeling for the decision, however, and conveyed a sense of relief to end another performance drought by putting himself in a good position for victory.

“But I’m very grateful to be in this position because it’s been a tough run,” he said. “And like I said, straight out of the car, I know it’s in there. I’ve never doubted that it’s in there. 

“It’s just understanding why this season we can’t achieve it as consistently as I have done in the past.”