Once more in F1 2026, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff faced questions about George Russell’s struggles as he only finished P8 in the United States GP. At the flag, the Brit was a full 54s behind his teammate.
It all started to go wrong in Q3 for the three-time 2026 race winner. In the second segment of qualifying, he was P3, 0.027s and right behind his teammate Kimi Antonelli. Come Q3, the gap was 0.441s and five places between them as the Italian took pole.
Race day was not any better. Russell was — harshly — given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Turn 12 against Oscar Piastri. That meant both McLarens were within striking distance, pitted before him and he rejoined in P8.
Nonetheless, his biggest issue was a complete lack of pace in the first stint on mediums when running in P6. Before he boxed on Lap 22, he was a full 21s behind his teammate. His pace on the hards looked more encouraging until he got bottled up behind Oscar Piastri for the rest of the race.
Toto Wolff backs George Russell and says Mercedes must take responsibility after latest struggles at 2026 F1 United States GP
Speaking in his print media session after the race, the Austrian outlined the massive credentials of the 28-year-old. Russell won the GP3 (now Formula 3) and F2 titles in successive years, before graduating to F1 with Williams in 2019.
He would eventually move to Mercedes in 2022, beating Lewis Hamilton that season and in 2024. His best season came last year when he mixed consistency and speed, winning two races and finishing 4th in the standings, a full 169 points clear of Kimi Antonelli.
Unfortunately for the Brit, he has never fully gelled with the W17. Although he has taken three wins, Kimi Antonelli his dominated in the car to beat in 2026. Even 2nd place in the Drivers’ Championship is under question ahead of the last four or five races.
Toto Wolff says Mercedes need to understand George Russell’s struggles after the 2026 F1 United States GP and get him back to the high level everyone knows he is capable of.
“George, for all of us in the team, is a champion and has won in every category.
“And I think he merits to be put in the group of the very best ones. We’ve seen that last year. And this year, like you said, we see this variability in results.
“When we land the car in the way that suits him, he’s absolutely fast. But when it drops out of that operational window, he struggles. And he struggles more than maybe Kimi. That is on us.”
Trying to solve the issues
“We just have to work it out with him, how there can be such a difference in driving, in performance. Because George is not half a second slower, three tenths slower than Kimi. That’s just absolutely not the case.
“So what is it that he doesn’t like? What is it that we need to do in terms of modifying the car? Setting it up in a different way for him to go fast? Because it’s all there. The intelligence, the ability, the determination.”
A tough weekend at COTA
Since Mercedes introduced upgrades in Malaysia, the window to unlock the best performance from the W17 has been very, very tough. At Sepang, both drivers struggled. Russell returned to the older spec in Singapore; he would most likely have won the Sprint if he did not crash out.
At Circuit of the Americas, Antonelli took pole and won the 2026 F1 United States GP, although he still felt the car had a narrow window.
Wolff gave a brief analysis of the latest tough weekend for Russell.
“George just struggled so much. I believe this is because the operational window of the car is so difficult. In Q2 he was there and thereabouts. Q3 didn’t work. He said, ‘that goes on me.’
“And today in the race, I don’t know. We got stuck behind Piastri, which looks a bit unfair. Why he didn’t get past, it is the same engine, the same electric charging and deployment.”
