Mercedes driver George Russell heads into the 2026 F1 Spanish GP in Madrid clinging onto P2 in the World Drivers’ Championship behind teammate Kimi Antonelli. While Russell seemed a shoo-in to win last week’s race in Monza, it was Antonelli who took scored a home race victory starting from P19 on the grid. Now, Russell sits 66 points behind his teammate in the battle for the championship.
Heading to the debut of Madrid’s new street circuit, the Madring, Russell reflected on his season’s performance during a print media session.
Russell on moving past F1 Italian GP loss to Antonelli
Despite losing the Monza win to his teammate, Russell expressed optimism in his performance. The Italian GP saw a red flag on Lap 3 after Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc crashed into the barriers. Russell reflected that the early red flag likely benefitted Antonelli’s race, allowing the field the bunch up for quicker overtake opportunities.
Ahead of the F1 Spanish GP, Russell expressed that Monza may have been the best race to take an engine penalty.
“I mean, he obviously had an amazing race and it was a very unique circuit. I don’t think anybody expected the tow and the slipstream to be so powerful. When I got passed by Max [Verstappen], the next lap I gained 1.4 seconds just in the straight on myself. And obviously Kimi [Antonelli] was up to P5, P6 just after a handful of laps, and the red flag was maybe slightly beneficial as well.
“I think we’d have still been in the fight even if he started on pole and I started second. I still think 30 laps into the race, we’d have still been nose to tail, battling one another. So it was obviously with the benefit of hindsight, that was the perfect race to take the penalty.”
George Russell on WDC battle ahead of F1 Spanish GP
Russell currently sits P2 in the WDC, 66 points behind teammate Antonelli. When asked about the state of his championship campaign, the British driver explained his is currently not at the top of his mind.
Russell highlighted Antonelli’s season ahead of the F1 Spanish GP, stating the young Italian has driven a nearly faultless season thus far.
“I think I’ll definitely need some luck and I’ll need some good performances.
“It’s not really something I’m thinking about, because as I said right now, he [Antonelli]’s performing better than me. So he deserves to be leading the championship. There’s still a long way to go, but he’s yet to have a bad weekend in terms of performance, so he’s performing exceptionally well.
“My performances are better, but if I want to win this championship I’m going to need some luck on the way. But it’s not something I’m focused on. I’m focused on driving faster and just finding more performance.”
Russell on adapting his driving style post-summer break
In terms of performance, Russell described adapting his driving style to the new regulation of cars ahead of the Spanish GP. Following the summer break, the Mercedes driver scored two podiums and a sprint win.
Russell expressed that he is “pleased” with his performance post-break during a print media session.
“I’m working on it and I think it’s been much improved. So I’m very pleased with that step I’ve taken. Because fundamentally changing the driving style is achievable for a lot of drivers, but then actually being fast with it is another topic. And I feel my performance since the summer break has been… I’ve qualified ahead of him in the three qualifying sessions and my race pace has been on a par with him in these two races — and I couldn’t say that pre-break. So as I said I’m definitely very pleased with that progression.
“We’ll have to see where the rest of the season takes us.”
Russell on competitiveness during the 2026 F1 season
Drivers are limited to a few practice and test sessions during the season, with sprint weekends reducing the overall practice time to a single hour. Russell emphasized the difficulty of adapting to the new cars with few practice opportunities ahead of the F1 Spanish GP.
“It’s like in a game of football, if you’re struggling with something, they tell you you can’t go to the training pitch until the day before the match. And you’ve got two one-hour sessions to try and totally change something and improve upon it. So it has been difficult, using the practice sessions as an opportunity to trial things. And even in the races themselves — having to try things in the races and working on those techniques. So that is just the challenge of Formula 1.“
Are Russell, Leclerc, and Piastri in the same position?
Russell continued, comparing his competitiveness to Antonelli against other teammate head-to-heads. He singled out Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen as having similar struggles in the car. The British driver stated they all share similar driving styles, which may explain some of their difficulties driving the 2026 F1 car.
“It has been a weird, a strange season when you look at the competitiveness of Piastri against Lando [Norris] last year, Charles [Leclerc] versus Lewis [Hamilton], and even the dominance of Max [Verstappen] against all of his teammates of the previous era. This year myself, Charles [Leclerc], Oscar [Piastri] are struggling much more compared to our teammates. And Max [Verstappen]’s teammates have been substantially closer to him than anybody has in the past six years. I think we’ve all got pretty similar driving styles and the drivers are performing very well this year.
“Kimi [Antonelli], Lewis [Hamilton], Lando [Norris] have also got quite similar driving styles. So to me it’s pretty clear with this car, with these tyres, what I need to achieve. And the trends are there with those four drivers I just mentioned.“
