{"id":2289,"date":"2026-09-15T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=2289"},"modified":"2026-09-14T19:17:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T22:17:18","slug":"russell-was-f1-title-favourite-so-whats-gone-wrong-against-antonelli-at-mercedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/russell-was-f1-title-favourite-so-whats-gone-wrong-against-antonelli-at-mercedes\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell was F1 title favourite. So what&#8217;s gone wrong against Antonelli at Mercedes?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>George Russell trails Kimi Antonelli by 81 points after finishing fifth behind his team-mate in Madrid<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Antonelli has won eight of the opening 14 races, compared with only two victories for Russell<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Toto Wolff still considers Russell a potential F1 champion but says Mercedes must understand how to unlock his performance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George Russell arrived in 2026 with perhaps his best opportunity yet to become Formula 1 world champion. Fourteen races later, he is effectively admitting that challenge is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mercedes driver finished fifth in Sunday&#8217;s Spanish GP while team-mate Kimi Antonelli claimed his eighth victory of the season, <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/what-does-antonelli-need-to-become-2026-f1-champion\/\">extending his championship advantage over Russell to 81 points<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Realistically, I&#8217;m not in the fight for the drivers&#8217;,&#8221; Russell conceded after Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is a remarkable reversal from the expectations surrounding Mercedes before the season began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell entered the year as the team&#8217;s experienced leader and one of the championship favourites. Antonelli, despite an encouraging rookie campaign, was beginning only his second F1 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fourteen Grands Prix later, the 20-year-old has eight victories. Russell has two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Mercedes boss Toto Wolff accepts that the situation is taking its toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wolff admits Russell is &#8220;taking a beating&#8221;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wolff has strongly defended Russell, pointing to a career in which the Briton won both Formula 3 and Formula 2 as a rookie before establishing himself at Williams and Mercedes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he also acknowledged the scale of the challenge Russell currently faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;When it comes to George, you can have good races, bad races. Good years and bad years,&#8221; Wolff said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about a top driver. We need to find out what it is for him to be able to unleash that potential.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wolff also acknowledged another factor: psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;If you have a run like him this year you&#8217;re taking a beating, but the great ones, they recover,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think that George has all he needs to fight for championships.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The problem is that Russell&#8217;s benchmark is no longer simply another competitive team-mate. Antonelli has developed into the dominant driver of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Antonelli turned Mercedes hierarchy upside down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell&#8217;s season has hardly been poor in isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He remains second in the championship, has won twice and regularly scored heavily. Mercedes also holds a commanding advantage in the Constructors&#8217; Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comparison with Antonelli changes the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Italian has converted Mercedes&#8217; performance into eight victories in 14 races. At Monza, <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/antonelli-equals-russells-f1-win-tally-with-italian-gp-triumph\/\">Antonelli recovered from 19th to win and equal Russell&#8217;s career victory total<\/a>. One week later, he surpassed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Madrid made the contrast particularly clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell actually started the weekend strongly, <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/russell-leads-mercedes-1-2-in-controlled-first-practice-at-madrid-f1-debut\/\">leading Antonelli in a Mercedes 1-2 in the first-ever F1 practice session at Madring<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the advantage disappeared as the weekend progressed. Russell qualified sixth, while Antonelli put the other Mercedes on the front row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Sunday, <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/antonelli-capitalises-on-norris-vsc-misfortune-to-win-first-spanish-gp-at-madring\/\">Antonelli capitalised on Lando Norris&#8217; Virtual Safety Car misfortune to win the inaugural Spanish GP at Madring<\/a>. Russell finished fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Russell struggling \u2014 or is Antonelli simply exceptional?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That distinction matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell has not suddenly become an uncompetitive driver. He remains Antonelli&#8217;s closest championship rival and has produced race-winning performances during the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, Antonelli has been exceptionally effective at converting opportunities into victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before Madrid, the question was whether Mercedes&#8217; dominance at Monza would translate to a radically different circuit. <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/can-anyone-beat-mercedes-at-the-new-madrid-circuit\/\">Madring was expected to reveal whether Mercedes genuinely had F1&#8217;s strongest package<\/a>, rather than simply a car ideally suited to Monza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli winning again provided a significant part of the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also strengthened the impression that Russell&#8217;s biggest problem is not necessarily his own level of performance, but the extraordinary benchmark being established on the other side of the Mercedes garage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Russell changes focus as title hopes fade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mathematically, Russell remains in contention. Practically, he no longer sees the championship that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;re obviously in a great place to win the constructors&#8217;,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Realistically, I&#8217;m not in the fight for the drivers&#8217;, and that just allows me to focus race by race and try to get some good results.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wolff is less willing to concede. The Mercedes boss pointed out that a couple of non-scores for Antonelli could rapidly alter the championship picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/what-does-antonelli-need-to-become-2026-f1-champion\/\">the numbers required for Antonelli to become the 2026 F1 world champion<\/a> increasingly favour the Italian. He leads Russell 292-211 with nine Grands Prix and the Singapore Sprint remaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Russell, the immediate question is therefore changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is becoming less about how he can catch Antonelli in 2026 and more about understanding why a season that began with Russell positioned to lead Mercedes&#8217; championship challenge has instead become the year his younger team-mate took control of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wolff believes Russell has the ability to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The great ones, they recover.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The remaining races will begin to show whether that recovery can start before 2026 is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How far behind Kimi Antonelli is George Russell in the 2026 F1 championship?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell is 81 points behind Antonelli after the Spanish GP. Antonelli leads with 292 points to Russell&#8217;s 211.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many races have Russell and Antonelli won in 2026?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Antonelli has won eight of the first 14 Grands Prix of the season, while Russell has won twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Has George Russell given up on the 2026 F1 title?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell remains mathematically in contention but said after Madrid that he is &#8220;realistically not in the fight&#8221; for the Drivers&#8217; Championship. He intends to focus on individual results and helping Mercedes secure the Constructors&#8217; title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Russell entered 2026 as Mercedes&#8217; established leader and a Formula 1 title favourite. Fourteen races later, Kimi Antonelli has eight wins and an 81-point advantage \u2014 and Toto Wolff admits his British team-mate is &#8220;taking a beating&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020315062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Russell concedes F1 title fight","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Mercedes","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,17,314,16],"42wp_author":[7],"class_list":["post-2289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-f1","tag-george-russell","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-mercedes","42wp_author-victor-martins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2289"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2291,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289\/revisions\/2291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020315062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2289"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=2289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}