Russell breaks his silence after Antonelli title: 'More bad days than good' this season

George Russell has spoken publicly for the first time since Kimi Antonelli won the Formula 1 drivers' title in Mexico City. In a long social media post, the Mercedes driver said 2026 was the first proper season of his career with more bad days than good. He also gave a different explanation for it than his team did on Sunday.

The statement came 24 hours after the race. On Sunday, Russell left the circuit without speaking to any media. His post now gives part of the answer in his own words.

Russell started with the high point. According to RacingNews365, he recalled a dominant pole and win at the season-opener in Australia, then said the campaign "very quickly unravelled with tough luck and poor performances."

He also wrote about how hard it was to pick himself up from one week to the next, and about moments of confusion. In the end he accepted that "2026 was not meant to be my year." He congratulated his teammate directly, writing: "I want to sincerely congratulate Kimi on what has been an absolutely incredible season. You truly deserve the Championship."

This explanation does not match the one Mercedes gave. Toto Wolff put Sunday down to the car. Russell suffered "an unexpected lack of deployment" on the opening straight, and Wolff said: "We had the pace in the car, and we let him down on the first straight." Russell does mention bad luck, but by also naming poor performances, he takes some of the blame for the season himself.

Russell used the end of the post to look ahead: "Now, all I can promise is that for the rest of this season, and into the next one, I will be giving my absolute all to rediscover the performance I have been capable of producing for the majority of my career and fingers crossed a little bit of luck returns."

He sounded more fatalistic in June. After a retirement in Canada, that he listed the safety car timing in Japan, a breakdown in Q3 in China and a breakdown from the lead in Montreal, saying: "It's almost like the gods don't want me to be in this fight." Ahead of Mexico he was defiant, telling reporters that this year "It's not going to break me. If anything, it's going to make me stronger."

The social post has no follow-up questions, but Thursday's media session in São Paulo will. Russell is scheduled to speak to the media on Thursday in Brazil ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. It will be his first media session since Mexico City.

There is still plenty to race for. The fight for second in the drivers' standings stands at Verstappen 261, Hamilton 259, Russell 250, Leclerc 245.
Mercedes can also wrap up the constructors' title at Interlagos if they outscore Ferrari by at least three points at Interlagos to secure the title.