Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits that Mexico race was a "catastrophic moment" for George Russell.

On a day he had one last, slim chance to delay his teammate's title-winning glory, Russell, for a variety of reasons, failed.

Though starting from the front row, and getting a good, clean getaway, as he continued towards the vital first corner he lacked full deployment and could only watch as rivals sailed by. Later in the lap a clumsy encounter with Isack Hadjar saw the Briton incur a 10s penalty. Meanwhile, his teammate was ahead and already preparing to do battle with the leading duo.

When the flag fell, Russell was fifth, while teammate Kimi Antonelli was third, the 2026 title well and truly secured.

Everyone was expecting Mercedes to do the best job in terms of the new regulations, and consequently everyone was expecting Russell to do the business, especially considering the erratic form of his teammate for much of last year. Pre-season testing, and victory at the season opener, only confirmed this belief.

But, for various reasons, it was not to be.

In many ways, Russell's position echoes the situation at Mercedes over a decade ago, when Lewis Hamilton, admittedly already a world champion, arrived at Mercedes, where Nico Rosberg had spent three seasons establishing the team with Michael Schumacher. Over the course of the first season, the pair appeared, for the most part, evenly matched, however in 2014, with the introduction of the hybrid era, Hamilton and Mercedes were in a league of their own, and Rosberg could only watch.

Eventually, the German got it together, putting together a string of wins at the end of 2015, and going into the following season with a new, more determined, no-nonsense approach, Going on to win the title, then promptly retiring.

Wolff, aware of how that 2014 title affected Rosberg, Wolff has come out in Russell's defence, and while admitting the impact Antonelli's dominance has had on him, is convinced the Briton can reset and come out fighting next season.

Having first congratulated his teammate, Russell left the track shortly after the race, skipping media duties, which would have inevitably been a series of interviews in which he would be asked where he'd gone wrong and how he felt, all while listening to the endless praise lavished on his teammate. As a result Mercedes, which had given Russell permission to leave, was fined €5000.

"I saw George after the race on the FIA scales, and obviously he was distraught about the situation," Wolff admitted. "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 sportsperson, this is...

"He's going through a hard time," he admitted, "but he was also responsible for getting the young man into this team.

"I saw him, and for a racing driver, this is a catastrophic moment. Maybe today the race was a little bit of 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," said the Austrian. "The energy delivery is not what we thought it should be.

"I'm very much with him at the moment. I've been in situations where it'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 honourable."

Adding to Russell's woes, Sunday's result saw him demoted to fourth in the standings, with Leclerc, and even Norris being a threat of leapfrogging the Briton.