U.S. Grand Prix: Russell of Mercedes to start from pit lane

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

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

Russell had initially qualified in sixth place on Saturday. However, a crash during his second flying lap at the penultimate corner terminated the session prematurely.

Repairs on Russell's car continued into the evening, which violated parc ferme rules that prohibit teams from working on cars two hours after qualifying has concluded.

Due to the damage sustained to the upgraded parts prepared for this weekend, Mercedes had to revert to components used during the Singapore Grand Prix four weeks ago, further breaking parc ferme regulations.

Owing to these changes, Russell will now start from the pit lane. Consequently, the cars scheduled to start behind him, from seventh position downwards, will each move up one place on the starting grid.

Meanwhile, Russell's teammate, Lewis Hamilton, faces his own challenges as he is set to start the race from 17th on the grid. Hamilton struggled with his car in qualifying and was eliminated in the opening session.

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