Russell says difficult 2026 season will not define his F1 career

George Russell says the difficult 2026 season will not define his career. “It’s not going to break me. If anything, it’s going to make me stronger.” Ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix, the 28-year-old said he still had 12 to 15 years left in Formula 1. Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli arrives in Mexico City able to clinch his first world title.

Russell is second in the drivers’ standings, 123 points behind Antonelli, who is only in his second F1 season and has been far more consistent. Russell began 2026 with a win in Australia; his campaign has included pole positions and victories alongside poor results, and three retirements caused by reliability problems.

Russell said he had learned more about himself this year than he would have liked and was proud of his resilience after difficult moments. He pointed to Lewis Hamilton, whom he sees as still competing strongly at 41, and noted that Hamilton won most of his titles in his 30s.

He said he often performed best after his worst races, though sometimes another bad race followed a good one; he was unsure whether the pattern meant anything or was coincidence. After a dominant win in Baku and a DNF in Malaysia, Russell finished ninth in Singapore and eighth in Austin. He says his focus is on finding how to prevent poor performances rather than on directly working out how to beat a rival.