(Motorsport-Total.com) – Dear readers,
when I was walking up and down the hallway with my child at 4 a.m. on Sunday night, I was already thinking about who might have slept the worst after the race in Japan – apart from the overtired dad on a weekend with ungrateful session times.
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There were many logical candidates: A Honda representative, after occupying the last row of the grid behind both Cadillacs at their home race? Sure, the situation for Aston Martin and its engine manufacturer is bad. On the other hand, they were prepared for the difficulties, and I could only have repeated once more what could already be read here 20 times.
Laurent Mekies? Maybe, after all, there was the “scandal” involving Max Verstappen and the Guardian colleague on Thursday, and there is a threat of being stuck with a driver pairing like Isack Hadjar/Arvid Lindblad next year.
I had Mekies in the back of my mind. And to anticipate frequent criticism: Yes, of course, you already have thoughts in the run-up to the race, but the column is always written only after the weekend is over.
And Sunday brought us a completely different big loser: George Russell.
To the title with self-confidence?
I can’t look into his head, but I believe that the Englishman was quite confident before the season that the new 2026 Formula 1 World Champion would bear the initials GR.
Mercedes was the big favorite before the season – and still is. Last year, Russell had claimed that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris should actually win every race with their McLaren. And if you apply that logic, he would have to say the same about his current car.
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Thus, the only competition remaining would be the teammate in the same car. And Russell had him easily under control in 2025. And by easily, we are talking about 319 to 150 points, 21 to 3 victories in the qualifying duel, and also 21 to 3 victories in the internal team race duel.
That means: In only three races was Antonelli ahead of Russell last year.
And for someone who could also take on record world champion Lewis Hamilton, it should be a piece of cake to be ahead in 2026 as well. I believe that is also George Russell’s self-image.
Lost China? Doesn’t matter! But Japan …?
The confident start in Australia likely only reinforced this thinking. The fact that Antonelli won the race in China afterwards – never mind. After all, Russell could explain that with the problems in qualifying. And you can also grant your young teammate his first victory.
But the fact that Antonelli is now following up with a second victory is likely to gnaw at Russell. Even if there were certainly again some things that were out of his hands.
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He couldn’t help the unfortunate safety car timing, plus he was handicapped by a wrong set-up and lost important positions to Ferrari because the battery was charged at the wrong moment – or in the other case, couldn’t charge.
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How much of that is now down to the driver and how much to the system, only Mercedes probably knows. “We didn’t cover ourselves in glory during George’s race,” says motorsport boss Toto Wolff.
Where is the composure on the radio?
The fact that Russell is mentally burdened by the situation is currently showing quite well on the radio. No British charm, no jokes. Instead, a lot of complaining: “It can’t be that we’ve lost so much pace,” he grumbled during qualifying on Saturday.
And after the unfavorable safety car, he complained about the “bloody bad luck in the last two races.” Even Wolff had to step in and calm Russell down: “Look what you can do from here,” he radioed, but not without confirming: “Yes, super unlucky.”
Certainly, anyone would struggle if they were plagued by bad luck and lost a potential victory through unfortunate circumstances, but Russell has to be careful that Antonelli doesn’t get into his head.
The Italian has snatched the championship lead from Russell and has the necessary luck on his side to take the victory and dominate the headlines at the end, despite a completely botched start and a less than confident catch-up in the first laps – while the actual favorite doesn’t even make it onto the podium.
In the end, something like that can be even worse psychologically than losing through your own fault.
Time is on Antonelli’s side
Sure, the championship is still long, but the longer Russell is behind Antonelli in the standings, the more nervous he could become. And it’s already clear that even with two wins in the sprint and the race in Miami, Russell will not become the championship leader on his own merit.
Russell knows that this year is his big chance for the world title. Because if Mercedes really manages to land Max Verstappen for 2027, it won’t get any easier for him. If he’s even still in the Mercedes by then.
The question is whether the long break is good or bad for him now. Good, because he can let everything sink in and calm down, or bad, because Antonelli is now ahead of him until May and the last race will haunt him all through April.
In any case, I’m not ungrateful for it, as it leaves a bit more time for the occasional playground visit. But please not at 4 a.m.
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Yours,
Norman Fischer