George Russell admitted that his struggles during the 2026 Formula 1 season while Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli secured the drivers’ championship have been very difficult to handle. Despite starting the year as the favorite and winning the opening race, Russell watched as Antonelli built unstoppable momentum and claimed the title.
A Challenging Campaign for Russell
Writing in a post on Instagram, reported by BBC Sport, Russell congratulated Antonelli on an incredible season and stated that the Italian driver truly deserved the championship. The British driver explained that the season started as he had hoped before quickly unraveling due to poor performances and difficult luck. He noted that it was the first proper season of his career where he experienced more bad days than good, leaving him frequently confused and exhausted from trying to pick himself up every week.
Russell has secured three race victories this season compared to Antonelli’s nine. During the Mexico City Grand Prix, Russell started in second place behind Lewis Hamilton but suffered an energy deployment glitch off the start line that caused a loss of power and dropped him through the field. He subsequently received a 10-second penalty for hitting Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar at Turn Six and causing a spin, ultimately finishing the race in sixth position. That result dropped him to fourth in the championship standings as Max Verstappen moved into second ahead of Hamilton.
Mercedes Support and Future Outlook
Knowing that Antonelli was heavily favored to clinch the title in Mexico, Russell was close to tears and overwhelmed by emotion after the race while standing on the FIA scales. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff encountered him at that moment and permitted the driver to skip his post-race media obligations. Wolff stated that Russell was understandably distraught and that his departure from the track was completely acceptable, noting that Russell played a responsible role in bringing Antonelli into the team.
Looking ahead, Russell promised on social media to give his absolute all for the remainder of the season and into the next to rediscover his previous performance level and hopefully regain some good fortune. Antonelli praised his teammate after the race, acknowledging that Russell faced considerable bad luck throughout the year and emphasized that the British driver remains extremely fast and difficult to beat when performing at his best.
