Mercedes leave Miami with a good points haul to close the gap to Aston Martin in the Constructors Championship.

After a mix qualifying on Saturday the Mercedes team worked hard to improve into a double points scoring position in the Grand Prix.

The team ran the drivers on two different strategies with George Russell pitting earlier as Lewis Hamilton went deeper into the race.

Russell managed to secure a fourth place finish with a sweeping move on lap 38 to pass Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz after the round of pit stops with Hamilton allowing him to pass earlier.

After the race Russell said: “That was a really satisfying race for us today. After the challenges in Qualifying, it felt like a more normal day for us. To finish P4 on merit and finish ahead of the Ferraris was the maximum we could have achieved. The battle with Carlos (Sainz) was really enjoyable. I made a good move that needed a lot of commitment as the track is so dirty off-line. Thanks to Lewis for letting me by too and enabling me to get on with my race as we were in different battles today. We’ve got a really good relationship and we only want what is best for the Team. That’s what we are working towards.

We know where we are at the moment, and the car is still challenging to drive. We hope to have some updates on the car in Imola; they are not going to change the world for us but hopefully it will be a step in the right direction. Despite today’s positives, we know we’ve still got a lot of work to do and need to make significant improvements to close the gap to Red Bull.”

After a difficult qualifying session Hamilton started in thirteenth and ran the same strategy as Max Verstappen.

Pitting on lap 37 Hamilton swapped his hard tyres for faster mediums and moved through the field and with one final move overtook Pierre Gasly’s Alpine for sixth.

Having started in thirteenth Hamilton finished sixth and had this to say: “Today was a good race and I am happy we moved forwards. Saturday was difficult, but I always try to turn negatives into positives.

“Going from P13 to P6 is decent and I had a lot of fun making my way through; it was great to have several battles, so I enjoyed it. It wasn’t spectacular at the start as we were stuck in a DRS train and struggling to overtake.

“I had to bide my time and then eventually, I was able to start attacking. The car was much better on the medium tyre and came alive midway through the race.

“It’s good points for the Team and I want to say a big thank you to all of them. They are keeping their heads down and working hard to improve. We’re not where we want to be, but the morale is still great.”

The points close Mercedes in on Aston Martin in the Constructors Championship and keep them ahead of Ferrari.

Formula One takes a break now and returns on May 19-21 at Imola, Italy for the first of three races.