George Russell has not lost belief in him after 2026 F1 Monaco GP non-score, as Toto Wolff accepts mistake on Mercedes side for not serving the penalty.
After the disaster in Canada, Mercedes’ Russell had better hopes to recover in F1 Monaco GP. However, the Brit couldn’t get going against teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who took pole by slimmest of margins from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Russell only managed sixth on a track which is notoriously difficult to pass on. A non-start from Verstapen helped the Brit to be fifth behind the other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar. The Frenchman’s troubles helped the Brit to close in, but it was too difficult to make a move.
Mercedes pitted Russell and took track position over Hadjar. But the Brit was then stuck behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was asked to help teammate Oscar Piastri. Eventually Norris retired, which helped the Mercedes driver to push and catch the Australian.
Russell hurt by double penalty in F1 Monaco GP
However, Russell was handed a 5s time penalty for speeding in pitlane – one of several drivers. A safety car period for crashed Lance Stroll, hurried everyone into the pitlane and in the confusion of double stack, Mercedes failed to serve his time penalty during the pit stop.
Russell was eventually handed a drive-through penalty which dropped him from third to back of the field, where he would finish. The Brit accepted poor run in F1 qualifying, but post-race he couldn’t understand how to accept blame for what happened in Canada and also Monaco.
Russell left frustrated after F1 Monaco GP
“Yeah, I mean, I’m beyond frustration now. It’s just struggling to comprehend how the season has panned out, and the way it has been,” said Russell in the print media pen. “The team said there was nothing I did wrong with the speeding in the pit lane. [It was probably a] software issue.
“We don’t know where from. Five second penalty, not ideal, but not the end of the world. And then obviously, a drive through, not serving it properly when I was in P3. So, two weekends in a row, 40 points down the drain. I got the drive-through because there was a lot of confusion last minute.
Confusion/miscommunication in the pits
“I was meant to be staying on track, but then the FIA pulled the cars through pitlane. I was asking the team, ‘Am I stopping for tyres or not?’ I didn’t get an answer, but I saw my set of tyres there. Everything just happened too quick and I guess the mechanic didn’t get the message that they had to leave the car for five seconds.
“Then I was on the radio saying I’m willing to serve the penalty in the next lap, because I had a 20-second gap to Gasly behind me. But the rules say we didn’t serve the penalty correctly… and the punishment is a drive-through.
“With the software glitch, I probably gained one-tenth of a second in the whole pitlane and lost 13 positions,” summed up Russell, laments poor luck during a crucial F1 season when he is fighting for the World Championship, as opposed to other years when he was not in the fight.
Russell laments poor luck in F1 2026 so far
“I mean, I wish I could, yesterday was a bad day for me. I accept that,” continued Russell. “But, as a result of the last two races, I wish I could take some responsibility for the car breaking down in Canada, or the penalties today. But it’s been completely outside of my control, and that is an incredibly difficult pill to swallow.
“I don’t ever really believe in good luck or bad luck, but look at the season as a whole, and, you know, leading the race in Canada, breakdown. Could have been on the podium today, zero points. Leading the race in Japan, safety car came out ten seconds after a pit stop.
“There’s not a lot, and the whole season could look totally different, now I am 70 points off the leader.” As Russell highlighted, he dropped to third in the drivers’ standings and with Antonelli’s win in F1 Monaco GP, he stretched his points lead to 68 from the Brit, with the Mercedes drivers 18 points behind second-placed Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Russell has lost belief still
Despite the hole Russell has found himself in, the Brit hasn’t lost belief. He cited Verstappen’s example from last year after the Dutchman’s exploits to cut down a 104-point gap to lose by just two in the end. He stresses that there is still long to go in the championship.
“No, it’s not,” said Russell. “You look at Verstappen last year – but I need to get myself out. I don’t know how we keep ending up in the same position. Things I need to improve for sure. But I know on clean weekends what I can do and it’s just unfortunate.
“Yeah, no, I want to get racing now. The season has just started. I’m still very much believing in myself. I know what to do. I think we’re not even 30% of the way through, but there’s a lot of points down the drain. It’s not very enjoyable and so I just want to…,” summed up Russell.
‘In a weird state of mind’ – Russell
He also highlighted being in a weird state of mind going through such issues now than any season before. “No, I’m in a very weird state of mind, because I’ve had very low moments in my career where I’ve maybe had a run of two bad races or three bad racing on my own personal performance,” said Russell. “I’ve never had a run of bad luck that sucks like this.
“As I said, it didn’t happen when the car was a P7 car two years ago or a P4 or P3 car last year. Now I’ve got the car, it feels very painful, but there’s a long way to go. I’m still very much believing in myself. I still believe we’re going to be fighting for race wins to the end of this year.
“There’s no reason why we won’t be continuing into next year, but right now it’s tough,” summed up Russell, who wants to see things objectively. He credited Antonelli for doing a good job, but he knows he could have easily gotten two more F1 race wins in the six races so far.
Could have had two more F1 wins by now
“Yeah, 100%,” said Russell. “As I said, when I look at things objectively, things have balanced out a little bit more. I still think we’re very, very close. Kimi’s done an amazing job, but I think I have at least two more victories to my name.”
Team boss Wolff accepted mistake on the team’s side with regards to non-serve of penalty. Even though he was not sure if they had called Russell in, but he felt the team should have done better with their communication and handled the penalty better.
Wolff accepts mistake despite misscommunication in 2026 Monaco GP
“So, not quite sure what the reason was for the [pit lane speeding] penalty and for the many other penalties, whether it’s cutting, and then obviously the pit lane time is too quick, because there will have been a dozen pit lane speeding incidents,” said Wolff in his print media session.
“That’s number one, so I can’t really give you an answer. As for not serving the stop, clearly our mistake. We need to look at our communication, whether we actually expected him to come in, because I think what I remember is about staying out and not coming in.
“But nevertheless, you’ve got to be on it to hold him, and we didn’t,” summed up Wolff. The Austrian is not worried about the performances from Russell. He feels there is nothing that Brit has done wrong. It is mostly circumstances and situation that has gone against him.
There is the 2026 Constructors’ Championship to be won too
From the team’s side, he says that they are trying to as best, because they also have the 2026 F1 Consturctors’ Championship to win. “George is really good at analysing and assessing the situation,” said Wolff. “We forget, and I told him, when was it, a week ago, two weeks ago? He was on pole, he won the sprint race, he was leading the main Grand Prix, there was no discussion about a lack of speed.
“That was two weeks ago. So we’ve got to stay with both feet on the ground, work through the data, see why this one was a difficult one, and Miami was a difficult one, but it is not a pattern that I have seen through the season. I couldn’t wish for a better combination of the two in a car, and I have no doubt that George will come back very strong as well.
“That makes us good as a team, that we have two drivers that we can rely on to score the poles, to score the wins, and help us for a Constructors’ Championship. Or make us win a Constructors’ Championship,” summed up Wolff, who further spoke on handling two sides of garage with different fortunes.
He also revealed that it wasn’t his chance to be on the podium, but the board member had to catch a flight, which forced him on the podium. He is certain that Russell will bounce back, citing the situation with Piastri last year, when the Australian started well but was caught out in a spiral.
Handling two opposite sides of mood
“I’ll give you an example, I haven’t gone to a podium for ten years, because it’s always difficult to balance between one side of the garage being happy and the other not,” said Wolff. “Today I couldn’t avoid it, because the board member that I wanted to go to said he needs to catch a flight, and then the team said, you’ve got to go, it’s the home place.
“And while standing there, I’m always with mixed feelings. The Montreal race was his to win, we let him down. Today, probably, we could have had a podium, if not for the penalty mistake. And I’ve talked with him yesterday and today, this is a long championship.
“Last year, I remember people saying, “well, Piastri has won that’. It’s not necessarily only about one year, but it’s many years. Luck swings in your direction, and then sometimes it doesn’t. And it’s not a question of not knowing how to drive. It’s about having a car underneath that you feel confident with, and that you can go fast.
“And that’s the fact. Formula 1 is about physics, and not mystics. You don’t unlearn how to drive, and you don’t become a miracle wonder driver. I’m not stressed at all for his performances, because we know he’s one of the best,” summed up Wolff.
