George Russell branded his five-second penalty handed out by the FIA stewards in the United States Grand Prix as “a bit ridiculous”.

The Mercedes driver limped to a P8 finish in Austin, just about keeping his title hopes mathematically alive, while teammate Kimi Antonelli took a giant step closer to the crown with victory.

George Russell searching for answers after US GP

From sixth on the grid in Austin, Russell caught the attention of the FIA stewards on the opening lap.

Pursuing Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull ahead, the Brit left the track at Turn 12 and was adjudged to have gained an advantage against Oscar Piastri’s McLaren behind.

The stewards did reduce the penalty from the standard 10 seconds to five, but it was of little comfort.

Russell came out behind Piastri having served that penalty at his pit-stop, but was unable to clear the McLaren before the end, eventually finishing eighth.

He was asked whether that penalty, dropping him behind the Australian, had compromised his race.

“Well, the pace wasn’t good on the first stint, but when I came out of the pits on the hard, I probably did six laps where I was back on the same pace as Kimi.

“But then I caught up Oscar and I just couldn’t overtake.

“Six good laps, 50 bad laps. I want to understand why the pace was so bad on the first stint.

“The penalty was a bit ridiculous as well, but that was the least of my worries after such a bad weekend.”

Russell was using the upgraded W17 in Austin, following the team’s Singapore experiments.

Mercedes sees a higher peak performance in the upgraded design, but acknowledged ahead of the race weekend that consistent delivery of the downforce across the car perhaps needed work.

“The potential is there, but the window is narrow,” said Russell.

“I mean, we saw in Malaysia, I think he [Antonelli] was quickest in FP3, and then we qualified fourth and eighth.

“And then this weekend we were both up there in Q2, and then I was nowhere in Q3, and nowhere today, and he obviously was exceptionally competitive.

“There are signs that the window is very small. I hope that’s an explanation for my lack of pace today.

“But, I need to debrief with my team because it’s difficult to understand when you’re so far off.”

Antonelli heads to Mexico City knowing that ninth will be enough to seal his first world championship. For Russell, his P2 in the standings is under threat from Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Even Lando Norris is only 31 points behind.

Russell was asked how important it is to him to ensure a Mercedes one-two in the Drivers’ standings.

“For me, as long as we win the Constructors’, that’s the main thing for the team,” he said.

“Obviously I’d like to finish best of the rest, but P2, P3, P5 is not champion, so it doesn’t mean anything.”

Having returned to winning ways in Baku and gone well in Malaysia before his late DNF, Russell was quizzed on whether Austin felt like a confusing backwards step.

“A little bit. I don’t have the answers right now. I need to give it 24 hours to think clearly.”

Antonelli a comfortable United States Grand Prix victor, the podium was completed by Leclerc and Verstappen.