Russell Says 2026 Left Him 'Often Confused' as Antonelli Takes the Title

Kimi Antonelli is the 2026 Formula 1 drivers' champion, and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell says the season has been hard to live with. Russell called his struggles "tough to deal with" and said he was often left confused by what was happening to him.

Russell started the year as the favourite and won the first race. Then the season turned. He has three wins to Antonelli's nine, and he told the BBC that 2026 was the first proper season of his career with more bad days than good.

The Mexico City Grand Prix showed how that had played out. Russell started second behind Lewis Hamilton, but he lost power off the line because of an energy deployment glitch. Energy deployment is how a modern F1 car releases the electrical boost from its hybrid power unit, so a fault there leaves a driver short of speed.

Later in the race, Russell hit Red Bull's Isack Hadjar at Turn Six. Hadjar spun, and Russell was handed a 10-second penalty, which was added to his race time. He finished sixth. Max Verstappen won, Hamilton was second and Antonelli took third.

That sixth place moved Russell down to fourth in the drivers' standings. Verstappen climbed to second, ahead of Hamilton.

After the race, Russell was close to tears while being weighed on the FIA scales, the checks drivers go through after each race. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he saw Russell distraught at that point and that it was understandable Russell missed his media duties afterwards.

Russell took to Instagram to congratulate Antonelli on an "absolutely incredible season". He said his team-mate truly deserved the championship. He also thanked Mercedes for building the best car and power unit of the season, a power unit being the engine and hybrid system together.

Antonelli spoke about Russell too. He said Russell had suffered bad luck at some point in the year, that he would definitely come back, and that he is super-quick.

Russell's post was mostly about the people around him. The results, though, tell a sharper story. A driver who won the opening race has ended the year fourth in the standings, and he is still looking for the form that made him the early favourite.