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A distraught George Russell skipped his media duties after the Mexico City Grand Prix, but not before congratulating Kimi Antonelli on becoming world champion. The Italian, 20, became the youngest title winner in Formula One history after finishing third in Sunday's race, which was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen. His Mercedes team-mate entered the season as the dominant title favourite, but he's won just three races this season and has played second fiddle to Antonelli's consistent excellence this year. Russell, 28, finished sixth in Mexico City after being slapped with a 10-second penalty, with the Silver Arrows star adjudged to have caused a collision with Red Bull ace Isack Hadjar.
Noticeably downcast over his finishing position, Russell made sure to embrace Antonelli on his title win before being allowed to skip his media duties by Mercedes. The team's initial announcement on Russell's absence came without an explanation.
It read: "Hello everyone – just a quick note that George will not be in the media zone today. We apologise for the short notice and thank you for your understanding. We will make sure that his comments will be included in our post-race newsletter."
However, team principal Toto Wolff later revealed the reason behind it. "I saw George after the race on the FIA scales, and obviously he's distraught about the situation," Wolff said. "It was a great show of sportsmanship to go and see Kimi. I have known George for such a long time. So, I saw him and thought, for a racing driver, this is a catastrophic moment.
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"And maybe today the race was a little bit a picture of his season. This was a race for him to win. We had the pace in the car. And we let him down on the first straight. The energy delivery is not what we thought it should be. And so I'm very much with him at the moment. I've been in situations where it's very, very difficult to cope.
"So, him not doing the media work, or leaving the track, is absolutely understandable. Him staying would have actually surprised me." Russell's absence saw Mercedes hit with a €5,000 (£4,173) fine by the FIA. The result also saw Russell drop from second to fourth in the drivers' standings after Verstappen and runner-up Lewis Hamilton moved above him.
Antonelli may have made history over the weekend, but the Italian was critical over his own performance. He said: "I just feel like I didn't do a good enough job out there and didn't have the most confidence. It hasn't been easy this weekend, to be fair, and especially to keep my emotions flat.
"Definitely I have been a bit more tense than usual, also that played a big factor. But I try to enjoy the evening with family and friends and focus on tomorrow." The youngster has the chance to make it 10 race wins for the season at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix next week.
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