George Russell has questioned the frequency of the “atrocious luck” he believes he has suffered during the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The Mercedes driver’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli was crowned world champion at Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, with Russell falling to fourth in the standings behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Russell had qualified second on the grid but suffered the latest in a series of unfortunate moments that have plagued his campaign as a software glitch ruined his start, resulting in the loss of several places on the opening lap.
While Russell has accepted on multiple occasions that he has been outperformed by Antonelli, who he trails by 130 points, the Brit also appears to want answers from his team as to why he has been struck by so many technical issues.
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“My focus had just been trying to win races, trying to improve performances, and Mexico it felt like a moment I could regain a bit of confidence and momentum,” Russell said ahead of this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
“I qualified on the front row, basically on pole as I was so close with Lewis. Then just to have basically the whole race taken away from me because of a software glitch was incredibly tough to deal with when we’ve just had so many of these little issues in the whole season.
“This season hasn’t meant to be. The performance hasn’t been good enough. It’s been atrocious luck. We need to question, is it luck because it’s happened too often?
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“We need to question, is there something we’re overlooking because we can have bad luck once, twice, three times, four times? But it’s been too many times.
“We’re all having this internal conversation, and collectively as a team, we know we need to do better if we want to fight for next season.”
Why Russell avoided media in Mexico
Russell was excused by Mercedes from fulfilling his media obligations following the race in Mexico, with team principal Toto Wolff explaining that he had found Russell “distraught” shortly after the chequered flag.
The 28-year-old, who started the year as clear title favourite before being unexpectedly outpaced by Antonelli, posted on social media congratulating the Italian and explaining his feelings following the race in Mexico.
Speaking to the media for the first time since, he offered a further explanation of why he had left the track swiftly on Sunday, which resulted in Mercedes being fined €5,000.
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“I don’t think I’ve ever had this many setbacks in my career,” Russell said.
“I went through after the race with my engineer, the season, race by race, and we realised we had six races this season with no issues, and 14 races where we’ve had an issue of some sort.
“To give perspective, in the years gone by, we would maybe have two races where there’s issues, or I think in 2023 we had four races where we had issues. This season we’ve had 14 races, and as I said, I’ve always sort of picked myself back up.
“As much as I love talking to you (the media) after the race, I didn’t really fancy it on this occasion.
“So, I was like, ‘I’m gonna just get out of here and go for a nice dinner and think about something other than the rubbish season we’ve had’.”
‘You need to look at yourself in the mirror’
Despite disappointment as his lack of fortune, Russell insists he also continues to focus on where he can improve his own performance.
“I think it’s also important not to be naive and just blame luck on not being victorious,” he added.
“I think you need to look at yourself hard in the mirror, think where you could have done a better job.
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“If these issues have been any contribution of lack of preparation on your side, I don’t believe it is, but we need to go through that with my team. And things will come good again, I’ve got no doubts about it.”
“I probably just feel a bit exhausted this season of constantly picking myself back up. When you get kicked to the ground, you pick yourself back up, and then you get kicked down again, you pick yourself back up.
“And I was hoping to do that maybe twice in the season, not every other weekend really. I think when you get to a point of this season, you’re away from home for three weeks in a row and you have another race like what happened in Mexico where a chance of victory, a chance of the podium just disappears totally outside of your control, it’s tough to deal with, you know. It’s very tough to deal with.”
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Russell’s maiden Grand Prix victory came at Interlagos in 2022, but he admits that the way the season has gone has left with him with limited expectations for the race.
“Brazil is a place that I love, I’ve got great memories of,” Russell said.
“Do I come in with high expectations? Honestly, no, to be honest. But looking forward to next year for sure and we’ll just continue to work on the things that I can control and pray the things outside of my control sort themselves out.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Sao Paulo GP Schedule
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Friday November 6
3pm: Sao Paulo Grand Prix Practice One (session starts at 3.30pm)*
5.30pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
6.45pm: Sao Paulo Grand Prix Practice Two (session starts at 7pm)
8.15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday November 7
2.15pm: Sao Paulo Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 2.30pm)*
5pm: Sao Paulo Grand Prix Qualifying build-up
6pm: SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING
8pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday November 8
3.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Sao Paulo GP build-up
5pm: THE SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX*
7pm: Chequered Flag: Sao Paulo City GP reaction
8pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Brazil for the final leg of the triple header with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW