(Motorsport-Total.com) – Mercedes driver George Russell certainly had a different idea: In both Canada and Monaco, the Brit remained pointless, while teammate Kimi Antonelli took the Grand Prix victory in each case. Russell’s deficit in the drivers’ championship has now grown to 68 points.
Read more Engine surprise: Mercedes allowed to develop, Red Bull not
Is the 19-year-old Italian’s lead perhaps already too big to catch up with him later in the season? “No, it’s not,” Russell says confidently. “You just have to look at Verstappen last year, but I have to work my way out of this situation myself.”
“I don’t know how we keep getting into the same situation. There are definitely things I need to improve. But I also know what I’m capable of on clean weekends, and that’s why the whole thing is just frustrating.” In Canada, an engine failure caused the retirement, in Monaco, a team error led to the next zero-point finish.
“I continue to firmly believe in myself and know what I can do,” says Russell, who has not lost faith in his first F1 world title: “We haven’t even completed 30 percent of the season, but many points have already been lost.”
George Russell: “Never experienced such a run of bad luck”
The 2026 season has so far gone differently than hoped for the Briton – especially after the previous year, which was possibly the strongest season of his Formula 1 career to date. After the Monaco Grand Prix, Russell has even fallen back to third place in the drivers’ championship, behind Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton.
“I’m in a very strange mental state because I’ve had difficult periods in my career where I personally had two or three bad races in a row,” Russell admits. “But I’ve never experienced such a run of bad luck.”
Read more McLaren team principal admits: Customer team status will be a disadvantage in 2026
“That didn’t happen when our car was only good enough for seventh place two years ago, or when it was a car for third or fourth place last year. Now I have a competitive car, and that’s why it feels particularly painful. But the season is still long.”
Russell convinced: So far, simply luck has been missing
“I continue to firmly believe in myself,” the Mercedes driver remains unfazed. “I also believe that we will be fighting for race wins again from the end of this year. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t continue that next year too. But at the moment, it’s difficult.”
Russell is convinced that the situation would look much more balanced with a bit more racing luck. At the same time, the 28-year-old also acknowledges Antonelli’s strong performance, who is now performing at the highest level after a mixed rookie season last year.
“If I look at things objectively,” says Russell, “then I think it would still be extremely close if luck had been distributed a bit more evenly. He’s done a fantastic job. But I think I would have at least two more wins to my name.”
Read more Driver Ratings Monaco: Max Verstappen on the podium — without a race result!