James Hinchcliffe ‘couldn’t believe’ one radio message Mercedes sent George Russell at the Mexican GP

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George Russell scored his worst result since July at the Mexican Grand Prix as Mercedes failed to keep up with their front-running competitors.

The Briton, who led the head-to-head against teammate Kimi Antonelli 19-0 for the season, finished behind the Italian for the first time in 2025. It took Mercedes a long time to make some important strategy calls, which may have cost them a better result.

After winning two races ago, Russell has had a tough time replicating his form from Singapore. After signing a new contract, he’ll be looking forward to the 2026 F1 regulations, where he is expected to be in contention for the drivers’ championship for the first time in his career.

Russell has changed at Mercedes since signing a new deal, according to Karun Chandhok. Just last week, Toto Wolff made a ‘crazy’ assessment, which shows how much belief he has in him. With seven seasons of experience, he is one of the sport’s most experienced drivers now.

READ MORE: George Russell warns Max Verstappen he’d face ‘a lose-lose situation’ if they became Mercedes teammates

James Hinchcliffe ‘couldn’t believe’ Mercedes asked George Russell to save his tyres in Mexico

Russell could lose his Mercedes seat at the end of next season, even if he ends up winning the title. It would be a similar situation to what Damon Hill faced with Mercedes back in 1996. If Red Bull have a bad year and Max Verstappen looks for a move, there would be a tough decision to make.

Team boss Wolff admitted he destabilised Russell by flirting with a move for the current reigning champion over the summer. For so long, the Silver Arrows had no drivers under contract for the following season, which is a rare situation.

In Mexico, they failed to handle an important strategy call well, which resulted in Russell getting frustrated over the radio, as he campaigned to swap positions with his teammate. By the time he was let through, he had seen the best of his tyres.

Before Mercedes permitted the move with Antonelli, James Hinchcliffe was left stunned by the team asking Russell to watch his tyre temperatures, as they spiked in the dirty air behind their other car.

“I agreed with George Russell,” he said on F1 TV. “They waited too long to swap those cars, he absolutely had to burn his tyres running in Kimi’s dirty air, defending against the McLaren.

“When the call came to ‘Hey, let’s take care of those rear tyre temperatures.’ You knew what the reply would be. I couldn’t believe they had the gall to say that to George in that moment. Ultimately, it didn’t work out.

“They did have to swap the positions back. Credit to George for doing that, he was the one that suggested, ‘I’ll swap back, just give me the chance.’ But I don’t know why they waited so long.”

READ MORE: George Russell had a ‘good idea’ about which Mercedes driver Toto Wolff wanted next to Max Verstappen

Where George Russell can get involved with the 2025 F1 title fight

Although Mercedes’ pace hasn’t been too encouraging over the last few events, they will be excited by the prospect of the next few races.

Both Brazil and Las Vegas have been happy hunting grounds for them in the past. Russell claimed his first Formula 1 victory at Sao Paulo in 2022 and won at Vegas last year.

It represents an opportunity for them to compete for victory a few more times before the season ends, and potentially have a say in how the title race unfolds.

Russell knows he’ll win an F1 title, and it will hurt him not to have had a chance this year, but he’ll have one of the best seats in the house to watch on as his rivals fight each other over the next six or so weeks.