Russell says difficult F1 season left him ‘often confused’ after Antonelli wins title

George Russell says his difficult 2026 season, during which Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli won the Formula 1 drivers’ championship, left him “often confused” and was “tough to deal with”.

Russell, who began the season as a title favourite and won the opening race, congratulated Antonelli in an Instagram post after the Italian secured the championship at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday. He said Antonelli “truly deserved” the title and described his own campaign as one that “very quickly unravelled with tough luck and poor performances”.

“It’s been the first proper season of my career where I’ve had more bad days than good,” Russell wrote. He said he had found it difficult to pick himself up week after week, adding: “All I know is that I’ve given it my all and 2026 was not meant to be my year.”

Russell has won three races to Antonelli’s nine. He finished sixth in Mexico, dropping to fourth in the championship as Max Verstappen moved into second and Lewis Hamilton into third.

The race included a start-line energy deployment glitch that left Russell short of power, followed by a collision with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. Russell received a 10-second penalty for the incident.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Russell was “distraught” after the race and allowed him to miss his media duties. Russell thanked the team for producing what he called “the best car and power-unit this season”, and said he would give his all for the rest of the year and into next season to rediscover his previous form.

Antonelli said Russell had also suffered bad luck and called him “super-quick”, adding that he expected his team-mate to come back. The newly crowned champion said he would focus on improving as Mercedes faces competition from other teams next season.