Russell to start U.S. GP from pitlane

George Russell will start the United States Grand Prix from the pit lane after his accident in qualifying forced Mercedes to revert to old-specification parts on his car.

Russell qualified sixth on Saturday but crashed on his second flying lap at the penultimate corner, bringing an early end to the session.

Repairs on Russell’s Mercedes continued into the evening, breaking parc ferme rules that prevent teams working on cars two hours after qualifying.

Due to damage to upgrades on his car for this weekend, Mercedes had to revert to the specification of parts used at the Singapore Grand Prix four weeks ago, which was also a breach of parc ferme regulations.

As a result of the changes, Russell will start from the pit lane and the cars that were due to start behind him from seventh downwards will move up one space.

Russell’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton, is now set to start the race from 17th on the grid after he struggled with the car in qualifying and was knocked out of the opening session.