Three races into the 2026 F1 season, Mercedes George Russell currently sits P2 in the 2026 F1 World Drivers’ Championship. Amid the five-week break before the upcoming Miami GP, Russell shared in a media call how he will be approaching the rest of the season. The Briton also shared how his relationship with teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli has remained unchanged despite the title fight.
Russell hopes the 2026 F1 championship title fight will remain a two-way battle in Mercedes
Russell currently sits 9 points behind Antonelli in the 2026 F1 Drivers’ Championship with 63 points to his name. The 28-year-old shared that should the season end with a title fight with his teammate, he is confident in Mercedes giving them both equal opportunities.
He added that he actually hoped that the championship battle would continue to stay between himself and Antonelli till the end of the 2026 F1 season.
However, he is still wary of the rest of the grid. The Briton used Charles Leclerc’s 2022 season to explain that they are still in the early stages of the championship and anything can happen in the remaining rounds. The Ferrari driver won two of the first three races before Red Bull and Max Verstappen took over as the season went on.
Nonetheless, Russell is confident in the potential of the Mercedes W17 as they approach the resumption of the 2026 F1 season.
“Well, firstly, 100% they will give the same opportunity to the two of us, that’s always been the case for Mercedes ever since the Lewis and Rosberg days. Of course, I hope it’s just the two of us going for the championship, but I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.
“Because I’ve said this numerous times, in 2022 after three races, I think Leclerc had a 30-plus point lead, and Verstappen was saying the championship is over, and Ferrari were the quickest, and then at the end they were not. I think we have a very good direction. I think the correlation is very good; we’re ticking all of the boxes that tell us we have a really great foundation with the car, but of course, these things change.”
Focusing on the race, not the championship, each weekend
Russell also opened up on how he will approach the remaining races of the 2026 F1 season. While Mercedes may currently be leading the championship, the British driver is aware of his competition’s potential. The 28-year-old shared that his primary focus approaching each weekend will be on the race and not the championship.
“We know McLaren have not brought a major update recently, and when you look at their performance in Suzuka, as I said, I think [Oscar] Piastri could have won that race without any safety car at all. So, I’m just taking it race by race, the championship is not even in my mind, I just go to every race, try and maximise the performance, and we’ll count the points at the end of the season.”
Russell speaks on the relationship with teammate Antonelli amid the title fight
The Briton also revealed that his relationship with Antonelli has remained unchanged despite the championship battle. Russell added that the 2026 F1 championship was not a topic of discussion with his teammate and reiterated that his focus is not on the championship but rather each race weekend.
“Not at all, to be honest. I think we’re both professional, we’ve still got a very good relationship, and it’s something we’re not even talking about, to be honest. Within the team, it’s not even being spoken about, and I even remember when I was a junior driver here in 2017-2018, when the fight was pretty strong at points with Ferrari for the team, the championship wasn’t even on anyone’s mind.
“What was on everybody’s mind was performance and getting the maximum every single weekend, developing the car, and that’s my personal mentality. I can’t speak for Kimi [Antonelli], but that’s how it is for now.”
