Lewis Hamilton and George Russell set to run different aerodynamic packages at the F1 Mexican GP

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be running different aerodynamic packages at the 2024 F1 Mexican GP, similar to what they did in the US GP a week before. This was due to Russell's crash at Austin and Mercedes's lack of more new upgrade parts.

In Q3 of the qualifying session at the 2024 F1 US GP, Russell lost control of his car and crashed hard into the barriers. This brought major issues for Mercedes, as they were forced to use old parts on the car. The reason behind this was that the team only had two copies of the new upgrades, which consisted of the front wing, underbody, cooling inlet, wishbone panels, and engine cover. Hence, Russell's entire aerodynamic package was converted to the Singapore GP specification.

However, the new package and setup were not great for Russell's teammate, Lewis Hamilton, as well. The seven-time world champion was unlucky with a yellow flag in qualifying and started the race from P17. He too crashed into the barriers on Sunday, ending his race.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, both Hamilton and Russell will be using the same aerodynamic parts and setups in the Mexican GP as they were in Austin. This means that their setups will be drastically different since Russell will use old specs, while the seven-time world champion will use new, with an even newer sub-floor after his crash in the US GP.

It was also reported that Mercedes would try to bring new upgrades for the Brazilian GP, which would take place after the Mexican GP. Only then both Russell and Hamilton would receive equal cars to compete against each other and drivers from McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull.

---

Mercedes honcho shares his thoughts on Lewis Hamilton and George Russell losing control of their cars in the 2024 F1 US GP

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff recently talked about Lewis Hamilton's surprising spin on Sunday's US GP and George Russell's crash in Saturday's qualifying session.

Speaking to F1.com about the crashes, he claimed that Hamilton's spin was 100% the car's fault. He said that someone like Hamilton could not make such a mistake. For Russell's crash, Wolff said that it could have been a result of pushing too hard on a fast lap.

Nonetheless, the Mercedes team principal admitted that the team's new upgrade package has an issue that needs resolving.

“100% car. I think he [Hamilton] was not even pushing at that stage. We’ve seen it [in qualifying] with George, and that was maybe over-pushing it, but still abrupt[ly] losing it, putting it in the wall. Today, such a situation, there was wind and there was a little bit of dirty air…" Wolff said.

“We have definitely [got] an issue. I don’t know whether it was yesterday the same as today. Definitely Lewis Hamilton doesn’t lose the car like this.” he added.

In the drivers' championship, Lewis Hamilton is in sixth place with 177 points, while George Russell is in seventh with 167 points. In the constructors' championship, Mercedes is in fourth place with 344 points.