George Russell has described his 2026 Formula 1 season as "tough to deal with" after Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli secured the drivers' championship. Russell, who won the opening race and started the year as title favourite, struggled as Antonelli built an insurmountable lead, eventually winning nine races to Russell's three.
In an Instagram post, Russell congratulated Antonelli on "an absolutely incredible season" and acknowledged the Italian "truly deserved the championship." He wrote: "This season started off exactly how I had hoped but it 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. Has it been tough to deal with? Yes, very. Has it been tough to pick myself up week in, week out? Yes, very. Confusion at times? Often. All I know is that I've given it my all and 2026 was not meant to be my year."
Russell finished sixth in the Mexico City Grand Prix, dropping to fourth in the standings as Max Verstappen moved up to second ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The race highlighted Russell's difficulties: an energy deployment glitch at the start left him down on power, and a collision with Isack Hadjar earned him a 10-second penalty.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff allowed Russell to skip post-race media duties after seeing him distraught on the FIA scales. Wolff praised Russell's sportsmanship in congratulating Antonelli and said: "I know, for a sportsperson, he's going through a hard time, but he was also responsible for getting the young man into this team. I'm very much with him at the moment."
Antonelli acknowledged Russell's bad luck and expressed confidence in his team-mate's return: "He's super-quick. He has shown this season that when he's on it, he's very hard to beat." The Italian added that next season will feature tight competition from Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren.
