Russell was a front-runner in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying session as the Briton came within a few thousandths of beating Verstappen to pole. However, his promising pace disappeared as the Sprint race developed and those struggles were compounded by a crash during qualifying. With major car changes required, the Mercedes man was moved to the pit lane for the start of Sunday’s encounter, in which he did well to recover to P6.
WATCH: Russell ‘paid the price’ as he suffers nightmare end to qualifying in Austin with high-speed spin into the barriers
Missing out
Oscar Piastri just missed out on a place in the top half of the Power Rankings field, having spent the event in team mate Norris’s shadow, while at the other end of the order, Lewis Hamilton was given the lowest combined score after a challenging weekend that he finished in the gravel trap.
