What Has Happened to George Russell?

George Russell has not had the start to the F1 season he was hoping for. Mercedes came in with the most dominant car in Australia and Russell capitalised on that with a race win. Even before the season began, there was a growing momentum behind the Mercedes driver. Other drivers on the grid had him down as the favourite to win the championship in 2026. After his performance in Australia, it looked like there was a real chance.

If F1 has taught us anything though, it's that things can change in a flick of a switch. Russell's stand out performance in Australia is now a distant memory. With 160 points in the championship George Russell sits behind his teammate and Lewis Hamilton. He has a 59 point gap to the leader. In 11 races he's recorded two DNFs and five podiums, two of which are race wins. In the strongest car on the grid, everyone was expecting a lot more but he hasn't been able to deliver.

As the season's gone on, Russell has told the media that he can't gel with this year's car. It doesn't suit his driving style the way it does for Kimi Antonelli and it's costing him. It seems like Russell is stuck in a rut. The car doesn't behave how he would like, he's been handed some bad luck and all the momentum is behind his teammate. Russell probably thought that there was more time before Antonelli truly became a threat.

It's hard to believe that this wouldn't affect Russell's mentality for the season. And whilst Toto Wolff has said that the car has been to blame for some of the issues, he hasn't always been the pillar of support for Russell. After contact with Hamilton is Spa, Russell retired on the first lap of the race. Post race, Wolff came out to say:

George had a difficult weekend. Probably half of it is to attributed to the power unit that wasn't as good as it should have been on his side, and the other side is maybe on the driving.

Toto Wolff to Sky after the Belgian Grand Prix

,Unsurprisingly, fans and commentators haven't been too impressed by the comments. To publically call out your driver in the media feels a step too far and won't do anything to help their mindset and morale. Especially on a weekend where Mercedes had said they'd fixed the engine issues on Russell's car only for him to have an energy deployment issue which led to the retirement. It's not absolving Russell of any driving issues, however, these things are better handled behind closed doors. There is nothing to gain by publically shaming your driver.

Like most teams, Mercedes have said that it's team first. Their sights are set on the Constructors Championship before anything else. However, it's fair to say that the team would love to hold the record for youngest ever driver's champion and if Kimi Antonelli was to win then it would be theirs. After all, this seemed to be part of the reason why Wolff wanted to pull him up to F1 so quickly. And if more of the focus is shifted towards Antonelli, where does that leave Russell?

He finds himself in a sticky situation. Whilst doubts about Antonelli's abilities ebb away after his rookie year, Russell is facing more and more questions. Not about his abilities but about his future in the team. Will he want to continue to commit Mercedes? Are Mercedes comitted to him? Or would a driver like Max Verstappen be a more attractive option to the team?

You can't help but feel bad for the British driver. He spent the first years of his F1 career in a backmarker car with Williams. He extracted every bit of performance from it whilst waiting for the chance to be moved into the team he'd had his eye on since his teenage years. When Valtteri Bottas left and made way for Russell, the team was no longer dominating the sport. Instead of battling for race wins and championships, Mercedes were trying to figure out how they managed to the regulations so wrong.

When Hamilton left the team, Russell was the first driver. Older and far more experienced than Antonelli who had skipped F3 and been rocketed in F1. 2025 was a season where Russell really did look like he was leading the team as Antonelli adjusted to the sport. It seems like all it took was a year in F1 for Antonelli to fully get to grips with the sport. Whilst Russell has been struggling to battle with the likes of Ferrari, Antonelli has had rapid speed allowing him to win races with little or no pressure. The young Italian has already scored six wins with another three podiums and looks unstoppable most weekends.

For now, Russell will be hoping that the second half of the season will bring him more luck and a chance to close the gap to the championship. But if that doesn't happen, the question will continue to be asked: What happens to George Russell?