George Russell’s 2026 F1 British GP ended with an unexpected second place, but the Mercedes driver admitted he left Silverstone feeling far from satisfied with the team’s overall performance.
Russell looked set to miss out on the podium after a difficult afternoon on track. Starting fourth, he ran competitively early on, even engaging in wheel to wheel battles with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. A suspected slow puncture saw the Mercedes call him in for a second pit stop around Lap 35; he emerged seventh.
However, a series of Safety Car-triggering retirements and trouble for teammate Kimi Antonelli later in the race allowed Russell to capitalise on the chaos to snatch a second-place finish on home soil.
“Yeah, I mean, firstly, congrats to Charles [Leclerc]. He drove a great race,” Russell said during the post-British GP track interview.
“Great to be here, always, in Silverstone. My first podium, so really pleased to be standing here, even though, obviously, very lucky race. Got the puncture, then got very lucky at the end with the Safety Car.
“I mean, it would have been great for the fans for it to have restarted. From my side, my tyres were cold, so I was kind of glad to just bring it home in second.”
Russell admitted Mercedes had spent much of the weekend searching for answers after lacking the pace to challenge consistently at the front.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” he replied when asked why the team’s performance had fallen short of expectations.
“I mean, qualifying, we had some straight-line speed issues; I don’t know if it was there still in the race. But anyway, I’m going to keep pushing, my team are going to keep pushing. These Ferrari guys look really quick. So, yeah, game on.”
Russell reflects on dramatic turnaround at Silverstone
Despite the emotional achievement, Russell insisted the result did little to mask the underlying issues Mercedes still needs to address.
“I don’t really know how to sum it up, to be honest, because it’s been a very challenging weekend,” Russell told the media at the press conference after the 2026 British GP.
“Things within my control not good enough, things outside of my control haven’t been good enough, which has all resulted in poor pace.
“And then in the race, I was having a great battle with Max and Lewis, going against two of the greatest of all time, and I felt I could have passed Max. And with the straight-line speed over the Ferraris, I felt I could have held off Lewis as well. So P3 was probably a fair and would have been a good result behind Charles and Kimi.
“Then the puncture, I just couldn’t believe my luck. I’ve gone beyond sort of anger and frustration now. And then if you told me I’m going to end up P2, I wouldn’t have even comprehended how that was possible.
“So, I’m very grateful to have stood up on the podium.”
Work continues despite British GP result
Russell stressed that Mercedes still lacks a complete understanding of its current package. He explained that while the car had felt reasonably good to drive, the lap times had not reflected that confidence.
“Well, the feeling was good, but the lap times were slow,” he said. “And as I said, there were things outside of my control that contributed a lot towards that, and things in my control.
“I’m still struggling to understand this car. I probably still leave this weekend, albeit extremely grateful to stand on the podium, I leave less satisfied than probably Canada, when I broke down from the lead.
“And if I want to fight for the championship, the performances need to be better. I need to be better. I need to be working better with my team.
“We need to be maximising everything. We’ve got a close fight now with Ferrari, so it’s not just Kimi and I, Lewis is still very close. It needs to be improved.”
Although Ferrari has strengthened its position in the title battle, Russell insisted he remained focused on improving his own performances rather than worrying about rival teams.
“I’m not even thinking about it, to be honest, because I’ve got my own things I need to deal with and improve upon on my own side,” he said.
“I left Monaco three races ago 68 points behind and I leave here 25 points behind. So yeah, I would take it, but it won’t continue like that forever unless the results, the performance, gets better.”
Russell assesses championship fight in the aftermath of Silverstone
The Mercedes driver also reflected on the championship standings after Antonelli’s late-race misfortune, which ultimately saw him classified P15.
“Whether the luck has balanced out or not, I’m not sure,” he said.
“However, based on my performances and based on his performances over the course of these nine races, I think probably a 25-point gap is in his favour, is probably correct.
“He has done a better job than me this year to this point, so he deserves to be ahead of me. Whether it should be 25 points, whether it should be 10 points, whether it should be 35 points is a debate, but in that ballpark between…I obviously lost 15 points as well in Monaco with the drive-through penalty. I think anywhere from 10 to 30 points behind is probably about fair.”
Mercedes driver backs FIA approach after Safety Car finish
The 2026 British GP concluded behind the Safety Car, denying the drivers a final sprint to the flag, but Russell defended the FIA’s handling of the finish despite disappointment from the fans expecting a shootout at the end.
“I mean, of course it’s a shame for any race to finish into the Safety Car,” Russell conceded.
“But then you go back to Abu Dhabi ’21, and that is just how racing goes.
“Nobody can plan for somebody to have an incident, and the way F1 deal with it and FIA deal with it shouldn’t be any different at the end of the race compared to the start of the race.
“Obviously, there was a lot of chat post-Abu Dhabi ’21. If you actually look at the number of races that have finished under the Safety Car over the past 20 years, it’s not actually a lot. So, as I said, it is a shame, but what can you do? I don’t think it should be different.”
