The Mercedes driver says 2026 has been his first season with more bad days than good, after his team-mate sealed the drivers’ championship in Mexico City
George Russell has said the 2026 Formula 1 season has been “tough to deal with” and has left him “often confused”, after Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli won the drivers’ championship. Russell started the year as favourite and won the opening race, but his form faded as Antonelli built momentum. Writing on Instagram after Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, where he finished sixth, the Briton congratulated Antonelli and said the Italian “truly deserved the championship”.
‘Speaking from the heart’
Russell said it felt like “a pretty suitable moment to speak from the heart”. “This season started off exactly how I had hoped but it very quickly unravelled with tough luck and poor performances,” he wrote. “It’s been the first proper season of my career where I’ve had more bad days than good.” He added: “Has it been tough to deal with? Yes, very. Has it been tough to pick myself up week in, week out? Yes, very. Confusion at times? Often. All I know is that I’ve given it my all and 2026 was not meant to be my year.”
He thanked Mercedes for “producing the best car and power-unit this season” and said it had been “inspiring to see everyone coming together over four tough years to bring Mercedes back to the top”. He promised to “give my absolute all to rediscover the performance I have been capable of for the majority of my career” and said he hoped “a little bit of luck returns”.
Russell has won three races this season to Antonelli’s nine.
A difficult Sunday in Mexico
Russell started second, behind Lewis Hamilton, but a glitch in energy deployment off the line left him short of power and he was swamped by the field. He later misjudged a move at Turn Six, hit Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and sent him spinning, which brought a 10-second penalty. Max Verstappen won, with Hamilton second and Antonelli third. Russell’s sixth place dropped him to fourth in the standings, while Verstappen moved up to second ahead of Hamilton.
Although Russell knew an Antonelli title was highly likely before the race, he was overwhelmed afterwards and close to tears while being weighed. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he saw Russell at the FIA scales and let him skip his media duties. “Obviously, he’s distraught about the situation,” Wolff said. “It was a great show of sportsmanship to go and see Kimi.” He added that Russell “was also responsible in getting the young man into this team”, and that he was “very much with him at the moment”. “Him staying would have actually surprised me. So that’s absolutely on.”
Antonelli’s response
Antonelli said Russell had suffered bad luck at times. “He said a little bit more than me, being honest. But still he will definitely come back. He’s super-quick. He has shown this season that when he’s on it, he’s very hard to beat.” The new champion looked ahead to a tight fight in 2027, saying Red Bull with Verstappen, Ferrari and possibly McLaren would also be competitive. “It’s going to be important to be on top of the game, not only against my team-mate but against also all the others,” he said.
