Russell baffled by performance swings despite calling Mercedes the best car

After dominating qualifying and winning in Baku, George Russell was eighth in qualifying a week later in Malaysia and retired late in the race. He says he has no clear explanation for the swings, even though he regards Mercedes as having the season’s best car. If they knew the cause, he said, they might be able to repeat the stronger results more often.

His teammate Kimi Antonelli has been much more consistent and is on course for his first world title in his second F1 season.

Russell’s comparison with 2022 sharpens the contrast. He says he finished in the top five in 19 of 22 races that year, when Mercedes had only the third-best car. In 2026, he calls Mercedes the best but says he has not matched those results; a lack of effort, he says, is not the explanation.

Russell says his driving style centres on the middle of a corner and the exit, with throttle often applied earlier than by other drivers. With the new power units, he says, that approach uses more energy and becomes less efficient. He also says high rear-tyre pressures affect how he gets out of corners.

Those factors have hindered his natural driving style and are probably his biggest problem this season, Russell says.