It has been a strong 2026 F1 Dutch GP weekend for Mercedes’ George Russell thus far. After converting his pole to a win in the Sprint earlier in the day, the Briton clinched his second front row appearance of the weekend, placing himself P2 on the starting grid in Qualifying.
Despite narrowly missing out on pole by a mere tenth, Russell was not too disappointed. The 28-year-old instead chose to focus on the positives of the session, namely regaining confidence in his Mercedes W17.
Russell reflects on qualifying at 2026 F1 Dutch GP
Reflecting on his performance in qualifying, Russell shared that while he was initially on a decent final flying lap in the closing stages of Q3, he had suffered a snap of oversteer at Turn 7, which cost him the vital tenth he lost to Norris.
While he laments the mistake, he remains pleased with his performance at the 2026 F1 Dutch GP thus far, with his pole-to-win Sprint victory and qualifying in the front row.
“Yeah, I was on a very strong lap, to be honest, and then I just had a small oversteer in Turn 8 and tyres maybe got a little bit hot and I stopped improving from there on in. Usually, you know, those sort of Q3 laps, you keep on improving. So I was a little bit disappointed because the potential was definitely in there. The last sector wasn’t good. I didn’t improve in the last sector because of that small mistake. But nevertheless, to be on the front row, good [Sprint] qualifying yesterday, Sprint win this morning, front row today. So it could be worse.”
Regaining confidence in his Mercedes
Russell then spoke on his Mercedes’ underlying potential that he was not able to fully extract due to his lock-up at Turn 1 in Q2.
Nonetheless, the building positive momentum of the 2026 F1 Dutch GP weekend has reignited the 28-year-old’s confidence in his racecraft and his Mercedes.
“It definitely wasn’t part of the plan. I had a lock-up at Turn 1, so I didn’t get the chance to improve. But the car felt great and I felt in a good window with it.”
The Briton also shared a similar sentiment to polesitter Lando Norris, saying he gained confidence when he was able to extract the full potential out of his car. Something the Briton has not felt in recent races prior to the summer break.
However, his performance thus far this weekend has allowed him to rebuild his confidence in his Mercedes and proves he does have the raw pace to chase wins. The seven-time race winner hopes he will be able to build on this strong momentum throughout the rest of the 2026 F1 season.
“Just similar to what Lando [Norris] says, when I’ve got that confidence and when he’s got that confidence, can sort of extract the performance out of it and just trying to find this feeling a little bit more consistently. And, you know, the feeling I’ve had this weekend is more used to the feeling I’ve had earlier in the season. And, you know, my years gone by in Formula 1. So I’m glad that is the case. I hope that can continue. But it definitely brings me a lot of confidence because I know the potential is still very much there.”
Russell is confident of the potential for a race win at the 2026 F1 Dutch GP
Looking ahead to the 2026 F1 Dutch GP, Russell expressed that he is very confident that he and teammate Kimi Antonelli, starting in P3, will be able to catch up with Norris ahead.
“Yeah, I think we’re in a great place, to be honest. You know, obviously, we’ve got Kimi [Antonelli] and I in P2 and P3. So gives us a bit of an opportunity to, you know, put Lando under a bit of pressure strategically.”
The Briton also believes Mercedes will be faster than McLaren at Zandvoort because of tyre management and thermal degradation. While he admits that McLaren is faster in the high-speed corners, the Circuit Zandvoort is notorious for high degradation and hence the Woking outfit would not be able to exploit it.
Meanwhile, Ferrari, who were deemed to be Mercedes’ biggest threat of the weekend, qualified lower than projected, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in P5 and P6 respectively. This was yet another factor for Russell’s confidence in clinching a victory at the 2026 F1 Dutch GP.
“And I think, yeah, we probably had a slightly faster race car than those guys. I think, as Lando said, they look very strong in the high-speed corners and on a track like this with high tyre degradation, you can’t really utilise that performance as much in the race because it just puts too much stress in the tyres. So I think it will come towards us, Ferrari a little bit further down the order than we would have expected. And I think they would have been the biggest threat. So yeah, it’s game on.”
Change in approach coming into the 2026 F1 Dutch GP weekend
When asked if he had changed his approach or mindset coming into the 2026 F1 Dutch GP, Russell shared that he stopped comparing himself to his championship-leading teammate Antonelli. The Briton recognised that he had his own unique driving style and instead focused on adapting it to the needs of the W17.
“No, I think, you know, the truth is, you know, obviously Kimi’s been doing an amazing job this season and clearly the two of us have quite different driving styles. That was apparent last year and it was really working well for him with this car and these tyres and just trying to implement something similar into my driving style. I kind of describe it as like if you change your golf swing, you’ll probably take half a step back first before making those improvements.”
How the summer break helped his change in mindset
The 28-year-old then spoke on how the summer break away from racing was vital for him to reset coming into the second half of the season. Coming into the 2026 F1 Dutch GP, he plans to listen to his instincts and experience more.
“And I think the break just allowed me to put those learnings into the back of my mind, come here this weekend and not sort of fixating on what I want to try and achieve with the car and the tyres, but knowing it, like knowing in the back of my head what I need to achieve and just driving more freely. Yeah, I’m really, really proud of that because it’s just sort of building that toolbox of experience for me that’s going to allow me to be even better in the years to come. And, you know, who knows, maybe next year the technique is totally different again. And that’s the beauty and challenge of Formula One every year. It’s different.”
Russell on taking it “race by race”
Russell also insisted that one good weekend does not automatically mean everything is solved when asked if the 2026 F1 Dutch GP could be considered the turning point of his season. As explained by the 28-year-old, while there has been significant improvement since the 2026 F1 Spanish GP weekend, the season has been a mix of both good and disastrous races for the Briton.
“I’m not. I’m just going to take it race by race, I’m not going to come away from this weekend and say all issues are resolved. I do think I made some big changes going into the Barcelona weekend. And as I said earlier this morning, I had some good races: Barcelona and Austria, then Silverstone and Spa. We had the PU issue and Budapest was just not a competitive weekend my side. So I think it just hasn’t been a clean run. This season has not been a clean season whatsoever with all of the issues that we’ve had.”
The summer break also gave him time to reflect on his approach to the title fight as he enters the second half of the season less stressed over it. The Briton instead chooses to focus on the racing aspect of each weekend.
“But I just feel after the break, I just feel way more relaxed. I don’t feel like I’ve got anything to lose. The pressure is off. I’m just going to go out, enjoy it. And I don’t even really feel in a fight. It’s not mine to lose. It’s mine to gain. So that’s the mentality I’ve got. And I feel, yeah, it’s going to help me. I’m just enjoying driving.”
On the possibility of catching up in the Drivers’ Standings
Entering the second half of the 2026 F1 season, Russell sits P3 in the Drivers’ Standings with a total of 168 points to his name, 59 points behind Antonelli, before taking three points back in the Sprint.
When asked if he was confident in his ability to catch up to his Italian teammate, the seven-time race winner was quick to point out how easily the standings fluctuate, saying that there was still a chance and ” a long way to go”.
“Well, there’s more points on offer from this point into the end of the season than we’ve had so far. It changes so, so quick. We already saw it early in the season. At one point, I was almost 70 points down, got within 25, went up to 60. So, ebbs and flows and it’s far from over. So a long way to go.”
Nonetheless, he does remain cautious of Mercedes’ two main rivals, Ferrari and McLaren, who both seem to be on an upward trajectory. The Briton added that entering the second half of the season, many teams will be bringing new upgrades, which means it was fair game for everyone.
“I think the Ferraris are looking great. Lando’s been on pole for the last two races as well. So you can’t count anybody out. And, you know, we’ve got these upgrades coming. We’ve got to hope that they work. It only takes one issue with an upgrade and it doesn’t work as you expect. And before you know it, you’re not fighting from week in, week out, and they can be big points missed.”
