Mercedes confirm reason behind early George Russell Mexico disappearance

Mercedes has confirmed George Russell opted to skip his post-race media appearances in Mexico after being "distraught" over Kimi Antonelli's title success.

Antonelli became the sport's youngest-ever world champion on Sunday after a drive to third place, achieving F1's ultimate prize in just his second season.

After parking up his car at the end of the race, Russell was seen congratulating Antonelli on the title victory but did not make any media appearances.

It resulted in a €5,000 fine for Mercedes, whose team boss Toto Wolff has now confirmed that Russell's no-show was due to the devastating nature of his title pursuit ending.

"I saw George after the race on the FIA scales, and obviously he's distraught about the situation," Wolff told media including RacingNews365.

"It was a great show of sportsmanship to go and see Kimi.

"I have known George for such a long time. He's going through a hard time, but he was also responsible in getting the young man into this team.

"For a racing driver, this is a catastrophic moment."

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Russell started the race from second on the grid but slipped back a handful of positions on the opening lap due to a power unit issue.

His race unravelled further when he was handed a five-second time penalty for a collision with Isack Hadjar on the same lap of the race, and he eventually classified in sixth.

Mercedes has accepted blame for the engine concern that held him back on the run to the opening corner.

"The race was a little bit a picture of his season," Wolff said. "This was a race for him to win.

"We had the pace in the car. And we let him down on the first straight. The energy delivery is not what we thought it should be.

"And so I'm very much with him at the moment. I've been in situations where it's very, very difficult to cope.

"So, him not doing the media work, or leaving the track, is absolutely understandable. Him staying would have actually surprised me."