“I just want the same car.” George Russell’s statement following his DNF at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday (19) might sound like sore loser whining at first glance, but it conceals a dangerous powder keg inside the Mercedes garage—one that could eventually explode at the slightest spark moving forward. This is fueled by the series of issues faced by the Englishman this year, but it is also aggravated by the way the German squad has handled the situation. It’s not that the team led by Toto Wolff has adopted the same tactic so often repeated by Ferrari throughout history—publicly prioritizing one driver—but it is undeniable that there is something strange in the air and an unresolved story.
It is no secret that Mercedes, despite occupying a benchmark position and leading the championship comfortably, is suffering immensely with reliability in 2026. So much so that Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who leads the Drivers’ Standings, suffered technical issues in two rounds (Catalonia and Great Britain), while Russell was knocked out of action in Canada and faced technical setbacks at other times, such as in China and Belgium. However, what catches the eye is the glaring difference in performance between the two drivers. Antonelli seems to adapt very easily to the demands of the W17 and to the regulations themselves, whereas George accumulates difficulties. For the Briton, for everything to run smoothly, there cannot be a single flaw or setup change. If something goes wrong from the start, a turnaround is unlikely.
This scenario became even clearer in Belgium. While Kimi quickly understood the demands of Spa-Francorchamps and navigated around the limitations due to delicate energy management, Russell found himself in a nightmare spiral. The gap to his teammate started at 1.2s on Friday, reduced to 0.5s on Saturday, but was never at parity. Initially, Mercedes suggested that the Briton’s driving style might be the problem—the overall car setup, the interpretation of battery management—since there was indeed a severe loss of speed on the straights, which spilled over into a few corners, especially in the final sector.
“We’d already seen this at Silverstone: we thought we’d found the issue, we thought it was just the brakes, but it wasn’t the brakes. Then we realized the problem was related to my driving style, the throttle, and I convinced myself it was my fault. Now we’re absolutely sure it’s not my driving style and that there’s a serious issue: the team is working hard to resolve it. But every lap I do, when I see myself losing two to six tenths on the straights, it’s really frustrating,” Russell said on Saturday after qualifying, where he watched Antonelli take pole position. The driver of car #63 finished third, aided by Lando Norris’s penalty.
“You look at the steering wheel and see the speed dropping even with the throttle fully pinned on the straight. All my attention over the last 36 hours has been focused on straight-line speed. I haven’t been paying attention to the car setup, the tires, or anything else, because we’re all trying to understand what’s going on.”
In the end, nothing conclusive was found on Saturday. But Sunday, which brought the first-lap incident with Lewis Hamilton, also made it blatantly obvious that there was indeed an issue with the battery. “What is going on with the battery on the straights? I have no battery deployment! This is unacceptable!” George vented over the radio, still inside the cockpit right after the start.
“I got a good launch, had a great Turn 1, and was tucked right under [Max] Verstappen’s rear wing,” Russell said. “But for some reason, the battery decided not to harvest. So I exited Turn 1 with 35% less battery charge. Because it didn’t harvest, I also had an issue with the turbo boost pressure. The turbo didn’t spool up properly, so I was completely down on power. I reached the crest of Eau Rouge with 0% battery. Honestly, it was dangerous. I got swallowed up by three cars. I shouldn’t have been put in that position in the first place. That’s why I’m so furious.”
The DNF resulting from the contact with Hamilton worsened his championship situation, as Kimi claimed victory once again. George had capitalized on the misfortunes faced by Antonelli in two of the last three races to cut into the points deficit, but now that gap has ballooned to exactly 50 points. However, the point that truly stands out is the way Mercedes, through team principal Toto Wolff, is handling the issue.
In contradictory statements, the boss viewed the telemetry data differently from what Russell presented. And while he acknowledged that the situation was unfair, he offered no solution either. Given everything at stake, it is hard to imagine that a top team lacks the technical and advanced analytical capabilities to unravel the car’s anomalies, even if doing so incurs grid penalties. In short, it is a scenario that demands a complete overhaul, or the team risks letting rivals get closer than necessary.
At the end of the race, Wolff also revealed that all Mercedes power units suffered glitches and that it was not an issue exclusive to Russell; but again, it is inexplicable how a team like Mercedes could take more than one race weekend to identify and diagnose the faults. The truth is that the Three-Pointed Star is fighting against itself in this regard and flirting dangerously with serious turmoil inside the garage at a delicate stage of the championship. George is starting to become more vocal regarding the issues, and it is telling when he asks for machinery equal to that of his teammate across the garage. In short, it is the exact kind of headache Mercedes does not need.
Formula 1 returns next weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Round 11 of the 2026 season—the final stop before the summer break.
