George Russell pulls off 'diabolical' stunt at Mexico GP after Mercedes driver change

George Russell left Formula 1 fans in stitches after revealing what he got up to during first practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix. It was a rare opportunity for the Brit to put his feet up during an official F1 session, having given his car to reserve driver Frederik Vesti as Mercedes look to meet their annual quota for rookie appearances.

Russell could have sat in the garage and watched on for the full hour, but decided instead to try to get a better view of the action on track. Posting on social media, the 27-year-old revealed how he had snuck into the famous stadium section at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Naturally, Russell would have been recognised immediately if he had tried to waltz into the stand without a disguise. So he put on a big coat and a Mexican lucha libre mask to ensure he managed to go undetected while he took a close look at how Vesti was getting on in his car.

In a behind the scenes video posted on social media, Russell said: "Someone is borrowing my car and I've not seen an F1 car on track for a long, long time, so let's go." Walking through the Mercedes garage he said he needed "some sort of disguise", before taking out the mask and putting it on.

Someone then threw him a coat so that he could cover up his Mercedes polo, to reduce the chances of someone figuring out who he was. One of the Mercedes social media team members was with him in the stands and filming him as he pointed to Vesti driving through the stadium section and said: "That's my car! He's in my car!"

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Leaving the stadium section, Russell jogged past a group of fans and said: "He's a good driver," with the puzzed group clearly unaware who had just spoken to them. It was only as he made his way back to the paddock and removed his mask that several other fans cheered and took their phones out to try to take photos.

"I enjoyed that a lot, to be honest," Russell added. "I haven't seen F1 cars on track for years and years, so it was cool. I got to see what everyone else sees."

Commenting on social media posts about his antics, fans showed their appreciation for Russell's stunt. "George, this is diabolical," one amused fan wrote. Another said: "This is just so iconic." And a third pointed out: "Imagine sitting there and George Russell was next to you."

Vesti put in 32 laps during the session, more mileage than most and was 14th on the timesheets at the end of it. Kimi Antonelli was the busiest driver of all with 35 laps completed and his best one was good enough for second place, behind only Charles Leclerc who began the weekend with a decent show of pace in his Ferrari.