George Russell thought he finally had what it took to win at the Mexican Grand Prix. After pushing Red Bull to the absolute limit in the Practice sessions and a good one-lap pace in Qualifying, it seemed as though Mercedes were on their way to a maiden 2022 F1 victory. However, come race day, the pace just wasn’t there.

The strategy Mercedes chose for Russell didn’t work. At the chequered flag, the Brit finished outside the podium places in 4th, behind homeboy Sergio Perez. Russell was pretty vocal about this on the team radio, during and after the race.

That being said, 2009 world champion, Jenson Button, was quick to pull the Brit back down to earth. While speaking to Any Driven Monday, he said, “George was really happy on the medium tire, he wanted to go longer, the team put the hard tire on and it just didn’t work for him.”

“You can shout as much as you want on the radio but there’s no other direction from there.”

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Even though in the heat of the moment, the Brit might’ve overreacted. He was in a highly contemplative mood. After the race, Russell discussed what could’ve been at a race where Mercedes seemingly got it all back together.

George Russell laments not doing the “right thing” after Mexican GP criticism from F1 world

Russell wasn’t a popular man after his US Grand Prix shunt with Carlos Sainz and the recent Mexican GP radio outburst. That being said, the Brit has taken criticism on the chin and has come out with what could’ve been done differently by him at the Mexican GP.

While analyzing his strategy post-race, Russell said, “In hindsight, starting on the softs and going to the medium was the right thing to do.” He then went on to explain why he felt so. “Starting on the medium and going to the softs was a bit more difficult because my medium was already quite damaged from the early couple of laps.”

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George Russell currently sits 4th in the Driver’s Championship ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Will Russell join the elite club of drivers who’ve actually beaten Hamilton over the course of a season?