2026 was supposed to be George Russell‘s year. If there ever is a driver who has been made to do things the hard way in his career, it is George.
He debuted in F1 on the back of a stunning Formula 2 campaign. In that campaign, he beat McLaren’s young superstar Lando Norris convincingly and positioned himself as the standout talent graduating to F1 in 2019.
He debuted with Williams in 2019 and impressed instantly. In a stint that went far too long for his liking, Russell was a part of the Grove-based outfit from 2019 to 2021. During this time, he impressed everyone and even made many question why he was not handed a promotion to Mercedes soon enough.
When the promotion came for George, it arguably came a bit late. In 2022, he graduated to Mercedes and was teamed up with Lewis Hamilton. His promotion, unfortunately, coincided with the beginning of the ground effect era.
Mercedes had been kicked off the pedestal at this point, and it was not a title-contending team anymore. Keeping the disappointment to one side, George Russell started the grind. In his three years with Lewis Hamilton, he outscored him twice.
In 2025, he was teamed with a young teenage sensation in Kimi Antonelli. This was also the year when he stepped up impressively and took over the role of a team leader.
This brings us to 2026, and this was supposed to be George Russell’s year. Mercedes was back at the top, and he was the team leader.
4 races into the season, and George Russell only has one win to show for his efforts. He’s 20 points behind his teammate in the championship standings, and in the latest race, he got mollywhopped by Kimi Antonelli.
This has certainly led to a lot of recalibration of how good or bad George Russell is. So, what happened? Why is the pre-season championship favorite struggling at the moment, and what does it mean for the driver’s future? Let’s take a look.
What’s going on right now?
When we look at George Russell’s 2026 F1 season, it has not been the smoothest. After making sure he won the race in Australia, things have not gone his way.
In China, a reliability issue in qualifying meant that Kimi Antonelli secured pole position. This was followed by a much better race execution by the teenager, while George Russell came home in 2nd.
The race in Suzuka saw Russell struggle to keep up against Kimi Antonelli. As a result, the team introduced a late setup change that made things worse. On Sunday, George Russell had still found himself in the lead with his teammate behind him, but the safety car timing worked against him.
What was worse was Russell’s inability to even overtake Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, and hence, he finished off the podium.
The race in Miami was arguably one of the worst beatings that Russell has had in his career from a teammate, as the Brit was nowhere close to what Antonelli was accomplishing in the car. By the time Kimi crossed the chequered flag, Russell was more than 40 seconds behind.
As a result, after the first 4 races, Russell had a pole position and a win to his name. Antonelli, on the other hand, has 3 wins and 3 pole positions while leading the championship by 20 points.
Beyond the numbers
One of the things that does not seem to be going in favour of George Russell right now is the momentum. If everything went perfectly in China and he didn’t face a reliability issue in qualifying, it’s highly likely that he wins the race.
The same holds true for the race in Suzuka, where the safety car came out one lap after his pitstop. If that had not happened, Russell would have won that race as well in all likelihood.
The race in Miami is arguably the biggest blow for Russell because even though it was a bit of a bogey track for him, there’s no justification for being more than 40 seconds behind.
In essence, the situation looks much worse than it is at the moment.
Should there be a concern?
Well, the answer to that question is yes. The first three races might not have worried George Russell much, but what Kimi Antonelli was able to put together in Miami should be alarming for everyone, not only George, because that was a drive of a veteran.
Kimi Antonelli didn’t win that race only because he had a faster car, he won because he had much better race craft and temperament to handle the pressure.
This should worry George Russell because this was exactly what he was unable to achieve in the same car. Everyone knew Kimi Antonelli was a special talent, but not many would have expected him to be at this point in his evolution.
It does appear that George Russell is not only lacking confidence in the car but has also been rattled a bit by the pace that the young Italian has shown.
He might not have taken the threat seriously earlier, but he should certainly be doing so now.
Should we write him off?
Probably the most important question in all of this is whether we should write off George Russell as a potential title contender in 2026? This is where we need to put the brakes because the tendency in F1 to have a short-term memory that lasts a race weekend is highly ineffective.
Far too many times, the discourse in F1 has too much recency bias. Looking at George Russell and the kind of discourse around him is the best example of that.
Coming into the 2026 F1 season, George Russell was, in the eyes of many, a runaway favorite. He was considered by many as one of the top 3 talents in F1.
If we’re writing him off this early in 2026, then there are some serious questions we have to ask about the F1 discourse because, in that case, we are making calls about a driver based on 4 races.
George Russell: A victim of F1’s short-term memory and discourse
Before we proceed, it’s important to look at what George Russell has done in his racing career:
- Beat Lando Norris for the F2 championship in 2018
- Was the benchmark at Williams during the team’s lowest point
- Put together some sensational qualifying laps, dragging the Williams to places it didn’t deserve
- Put Williams on the front row in the 2021 F1 Belgian GP, and got them a podium
- Replaced Lewis Hamilton for one race in 2020 and almost won the race
- Moved to Mercedes, beat Lewis Hamilton in his first season
- In his three years with Lewis Hamilton, beat him twice
- Was one of the top 3 drivers in 2025 alongside Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc
Some of the major issues with F1 discourse, and unfortunately, some of the bigger names fall in this bracket as well, is the lack of long-term memory. We’re taking calls about a driver and diminishing what they’re capable of on the basis of just 3-4 races, which is probably not the best way to judge anyone.
If Kimi Antonelli ends up beating George Russell in 2026 and becomes a world champion, it doesn’t mean Russell is a bad driver, but it means that the teenager is one of the best drivers in F1 now.
Coming back to George Russell, he’s gone through a run of races where things have not gone his way. But we’ve only had 4 races until now. There are still 18 races (potentially 20) left on the calendar, and the year is long and stressful. The Brit will regroup, will find areas where he needs to improve, and start performing.
The early form of Kimi Antonelli has surely rattled George Russell, but if we’re expecting a talent like his to just roll over and not be competitive this season, we’re not doing justice to what we’ve seen from him since 2019.
