Russell Admits 2026 Was the First Season of His Career With 'More Bad Days Than Good'

George Russell has broken his silence on a 2026 campaign that slipped through his fingers, admitting it was the first season of his career with "more bad days than good" after Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli sealed the world championship in Mexico City. Russell skipped his post-race media duties that day, with Toto Wolff describing his driver as "distraught" and in the middle of a "catastrophic moment." He congratulated Antonelli at the car and again in a Monday social media post, vowing to find his old form.

Why it matters:

Russell arrived in 2026 as the clear title favourite, won the season opener, and then watched Antonelli rip off five straight victories to take control of the championship. For a driver who has spent four years grinding through Mercedes' post-2022 slump, losing the title in the very season the team finally delivered a benchmark car — under F1's new near 50-50 combustion-electric power unit rules — stings in a way that goes beyond a single result. It also sharpens the question of how Mercedes manages two drivers heading into a winter where one of them is a reigning world champion at the youngest age in F1 history.

The details:

• Russell described a season that "started off exactly how I had hoped" before unravelling through "tough luck and poor performances."
• His message was pointed in its generosity toward the team — thanking Mercedes for producing "the best car and power unit this season" after four difficult years in the wilderness.
• The tone was less about excuses and more about accountability: Russell said he had "given it my all" while conceding 2026 "was not meant to be my year."
• His commitment going forward was explicit — full effort for the remainder of this season and into 2027, with a wry hope that "a little bit of luck returns."

What's next:

The remaining rounds now carry an awkward subplot: Russell racing purely for pride and constructors' points alongside a newly crowned teammate, while Mercedes weighs how to split resources. Russell's own framing suggests he sees the reset as a chance to rebuild rather than a career crisis — but with Antonelli's stock soaring, the internal balance of power at Brackley has shifted, and the winter will decide how permanently.