George Russell makes five-word Max Verstappen admission after US GP sprint drama

George Russell confessed, "I was too far behind", after an audacious overtake attempt during his battle with Max Verstappen in the United States Grand Prix sprint race. The two rivals shared a tense fight for the race victory after both McLaren drivers were taken out of the race on the opening lap following contact sparked by Nico Hulkenberg.

The Brit, who signed a new contract with Mercedes earlier this week, started from sixth on the grid, but picked up positions after both McLaren drivers, Hulkenberg, and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso were caught up in the opening-lap clash. This left him running second behind Verstappen.

For the first handful of laps after the safety car restart, Russell stayed within DRS range of the RB21, and on lap nine, he attempted to catch Verstappen off guard. Sensing an opportunity, the Mercedes racer lunged up the inside but failed to make the apex, suffering a minor lock-up and forcing both cars onto the run-off area on the outside of Turn 12.

Verstappen protested on the radio, while Russell picked up a track limits violation. The stewards did note the incident, but decided that no further action was necessary as the Dutchman exited the corner with his advantage still intact. From there, he controlled the race to bring home a maximum eight-point haul.

"I knew you don't get many opportunities with Max, so I saw half a chance and sent it," Russell told Jenson Button during his post-race interview. "I was too far behind, but I'm glad I gave it a go. P2 is better than what we could have expected. Some decent points."

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Verstappen's latest sprint victory moved him within 55 points of Drivers' Championship leader Oscar Piastri, who was caught up in an opening-lap tangle with Lando Norris, Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso. However, the reigning world champion made it clear that work needed to be done in preparation for qualifying and the Grand Prix in Austin.

"The start was good, then of course there was a safety car after the Turn One incident," he said, giving an overview of his sprint race. "I took a few laps after the safety car to have decent pace, so we need to figure out what was going on there, but nevertheless we won the Sprint, which is of course the most important.

"But already looking ahead for tomorrow, I do think we need to be a bit better in race trim to be able to fight the McLarens, because we haven't seen anything of them. We'll have a look. Of course, we have some ideas of what we can do, and then hopefully it will just stick a bit better tomorrow."