Russell mystified by 'mind-boggling' Mercedes pace

George Russell has explained the "mind-boggling" pace during the São Paulo Grand Prix, after a shocking race for Mercedes.

Team Principal Toto Wolff branded it an "inexcusable" result after both Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton fell through the top 10 throughout the 71-lap event.

Russell was stuck Hamilton in sixth during the opening stages before being easily overtaken by Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly had also overtaken Russell before Mercedes eventually elected to retire him due to high power unit oil temperatures.

"A mind-boggling weekend to understand," Russell told media including RacingNews365.

"I had relatively high expectations coming into this weekend and just absolutely no pace at all."

Russell: It's the same car as the last five races

The Mercedes suffered from high tyre degradation throughout the race, with Hamilton's Medium tyres visibly worn after 10 laps following his first pit stop.

"It's the same car as the last five races, so clearly we got something wrong with the tyres," explained Russell.

"During the Sprint weekend when you get it wrong, you can't make amends to those issues.

"We made the decision to run a bit more downforce and when you run more downforce you're meant to gain through the corners and keep the tyres under control.

"That wasn't the case, so we didn't have the benefit we only had the negative."