George Russell admits to going through a difficult first half of the season. Between a car that is tricky to exploit and several strokes of bad luck, the Brit hopes to reverse the trend after the summer break.
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Announced by many as one of the main favorites for the world title before the start of the 2026 season, George Russell is far from the scenario he imagined a few months ago.
While the Mercedes driver had perfectly launched his campaign with a convincing victory in Australia, the rest proved much more complicated. Between a car difficult to tame, reliability issues, and a series of setbacks, the Brit now trails significantly behind his teammate Kimi Antonelli in the championship.
In an exclusive interview, Russell looked back lucidly on this particularly eventful first half of the season.
A car difficult to understand
The Mercedes driver admits that the W17 does not always inspire him with the confidence needed to exploit its full potential.
“This season has been very complicated, with many ups and downs.”
According to him, the main problem lies in the difficulty of finding the right operating window for the car.
“This car is harder to exploit to find its best performance level.”
Russell explains that he has alternated between weekends where he was fighting for pole position and victory, and others where he could hope for no better than fourth or fifth place.
“I’ve had races where I was fighting for pole and victory, and others where I finished fourth or fifth. It depends on several factors, but mainly on the level of confidence and comfort I have with this new car.”
A succession of strokes of bad luck
After his inaugural success in Melbourne, Russell quickly saw his season become complicated.
Bad luck disrupted several of his Grands Prix, notably in China, Japan, Canada, and Monaco, where various incidents prevented him from scoring big points.
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At the same time, Kimi Antonelli perfectly adapted to the new generation of cars and gradually took the upper hand within the team.
While Russell still had an advantage of several tenths over his young teammate last year, the hierarchy completely reversed in 2026.
Encouraging signs before another setback
However, not everything has been negative.
The Brit believes he has regained a better understanding of the W17 over the course of the races.
“Every weekend, I learn something new.”
The Spanish and Austrian Grands Prix notably marked a real turning point, with a second place in Barcelona followed by a victory at the Red Bull Ring.
“Barcelona and Austria were two excellent weekends for me. I really hoped to build the rest of my season from this momentum.”
But this improvement was quickly interrupted by new problems at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
“The last two weekends have been complicated, but for different reasons.”
Keeping hope for the second half of the season
Russell nevertheless wants to believe that the hardest is now behind him.
“I hope these external difficulties now belong to the past and that better days await us.”
Unfortunately for him, this statement came before the Hungarian Grand Prix, where an engine problem at the start forced him to climb back from the last positions to a modest seventh place, while Antonelli once again reached the podium.
Despite this new setback, the Mercedes driver refuses to give in to discouragement. Convinced that he is gradually better understanding his car, Russell hopes to take advantage of the summer break to start again on better footing and revive a season that remains, despite everything, far from over.
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