George Russell ‘nowhere’ compared to Lewis Hamilton: ‘Something didn’t feel right’

George Russell wants Mercedes to “check” his F1 car after struggling for pace in the Miami Grand Prix.

Russell finished a lacklustre eighth place in Miami, behind the RB of Yuki Tsunoda.

It was the first time Russell was out-raced by Lewis Hamilton this season, finishing 18 seconds behind at the chequered flag.

Still, it was another mediocre weekend from Mercedes as they languished well behind the top three teams.

Speaking to Sky after the race, Russell admitted that “something didn’t feel quite right” with his Mercedes car.

“I made a pretty good start and then I think Checo went down the inside of everybody, and went off,” he said.

“Backed a couple of people up when I came back [on track]. Two days in a row for me, starting on the outside, punished me.

“It was a really tough day for us. We had no pace whatsoever. We need to check the car because something didn’t feel quite right.

“We lost a lot of pace compared to what we thought.”

Russell was particularly surprised by the deficit to teammate Hamilton at the end of the race.

“I don’t think it caught us off guard,” he added. “I just had no pace at all. It was just a lot worse than expected.

“My race pace has been pretty strong this year but compared to Lewis I was nowhere.

“We need to check and see what happened, and go from there.”

“Even more points but as I said after yesterday we know where we are as a team. A long way from where we want to be.”