James Hinchcliffe says George Russell can no longer use ‘the book of driver excuses’ at Mercedes

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James Hinchcliffe says George Russell can’t turn to ‘the book of driver excuses’ to explain his performance at the Miami Grand Prix last weekend.

Russell comfortably converted pole position at the season opener in Australia before losing out to Kimi Antonelli after China after an on-track stoppage in Q3 derailed his weekend. While he missed out on the podium entirely in Japan, the safety car was deployed moments after his pit stop in another dose of bad luck.

But in Miami, Antonelli comfortably beat Russell on pure pace. The gap between the two drivers at the chequered flag (first and fourth respectively) was a somewhat alarming 43 seconds.

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James Hinchcliffe: Kimi Antonelli beat George Russell fair and square at Miami Grand Prix

While Russell had convenient and understandable explanations after losing out to Antonelli in Shanghai and Suzuka, Hinchcliffe says there can be no ‘excuses’ this time.

Antonelli’s championship prospects are becoming more convincing with each race that passes. In Miami, he demonstrated that he could win a race under pressure, with Lando Norris hovering uncomfortably in the ‘overtake mode’ window for several laps.

There are still more tests he must pass before he proves that he’s champion material, but the same can be said for Russell despite his 156 races of experience.

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“It’s the first one where he can’t use the book of driver excuses as to why,” said Hinchcliffe. “It’s the first one, it’s not a trend yet.

“I was really hoping we had a race that was interrupted by rain. Dealing with those conditions, getting thrown that curveball, that wrench in the plan, it would have been really interesting to see how a driver with Kimi’s level of experience coped with that compared to how Max or Lando or George would have dealt with it.”

George Russell kept making the same point about his poor Miami performance

Russell’s ‘excuse’, if that’s the appropriate term, was that he struggles on low-grip circuits. He pointed to Miami, Zandvoort and Brazil as three of his weakest tracks.

Russell has only scored one podium in five visits to Florida, and his record in the Netherlands is the same. It was a surprise to hear him mention Interlagos, though, because he took his first win there in 2022.

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While it may be that Russell looks like himself at the next race in Canada, where he won last year, he has significantly increased the pressure by suggesting his Miami issues were track-specific.

One could also argue that Max Verstappen, the driver widely seen as the best on the grid at the moment, has no weaknesses. Russell backs himself against anyone, so it’s rare to hear him identify his vulnerabilities as a driver.