Mercedes admits fault after George Russell's Mexico GP heartbreak

George Russell's Mexican Grand Prix was over before it really began.

It started with promise.

Russell qualified second at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, sharing the front row with teammate Kimi Antonelli.

His launch was good.

He held position and tucked into Antonelli's slipstream.

Then the energy stopped.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed that Russell's car suffered an energy deployment issue on the main straight.

The power simply didn't arrive.

By the time Russell reached Turn 1, he had dropped to sixth.

He tried to recover.

A few corners later, he attempted a move on Isack Hadjar's Red Bull at Turn 6.

It didn't work. Russell's front wing tapped Hadjar's rear tire, sending the Red Bull into a spin.

Hadjar was livid. 'I honestly did not expect George to stick a wheel up Turn 6 because the corner was completely mine,' he told media after the race.

'Clearly, it's a shame.

This completely ruined my race.'

The FIA stewards agreed.

They handed Russell a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.

Hadjar also confirmed his car took damage.

'Little on the front.

Little damages,' he said.

'We had to repair something during the pit stop, which took a couple of seconds.'

He believed he had a shot at the podium before the clash.

'During that Lap 1, I was like, 'Okay, I have a shot for the podium.'

And then it was finished.'

Hadjar also blamed himself for putting himself in that position.

'Honestly, it's my fault that happened today, the Lap 1 incident, because had I done a better job yesterday, I wouldn't be starting seventh,' he said.

Russell's penalty dropped him behind Lando Norris.

Then the red flag waved for Valtteri Bottas's heavy crash, which reset the field but didn't erase the penalty.

Russell finished where he was after Turn 1 — sixth.

After the race, he congratulated Antonelli on winning the world title.

Then he left. He did not speak to media.

Mercedes excused him from his post-race media duties.

The FIA fined the team €5,000 for the breach.

Wolff defended the decision.

'I saw George after the race on the FIA scales, and obviously he's distraught about the situation,' he said.

'It was a great show of sportsmanship to go and see Kimi.

I have known George for such a long time and I know for a racing driver this is a catastrophic moment.'

Wolff did not hide the team's role in the failure.

'Maybe today the race was a little bit a picture of his season.

This was a race for him to win.

We had the pace in the car and we let him down on the first straight.

The energy delivery is not what we have thought it should be.'

He added: 'I'm very much with him, at the moment.

I've been in situations where he's very difficult to cope.

Him not doing the media work or leaving the track is absolutely understandable.

Him staying would have actually surprised me. That's absolutely honoured.'

This was not the first time a lack of energy deployment has cost Russell.

It happened at Spa-Francorchamps earlier in the season, down the Kemmel Straight, leading to a collision with Hamilton.