George Russell acknowledged that his situation in the fight for the Formula 1 title in 2026 became even more complicated after the Italian GP. After Kimi Antonelli’s victory in Monza, the Briton stated that he is no longer thinking about a comeback in the championship.
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Russell arrived at the Italian weekend with an important opportunity to reduce the lead of his teammate. Antonelli, who started further back due to a penalty for an engine change, quickly advanced through the pack and ended up surpassing Russell in the final laps, using newer tires.
The result left Antonelli 66 points ahead of Russell in the championship. The Briton, however, made a point of recognizing his teammate’s performance and stated that the current championship situation needs to be accepted.
“Definitely, Kimi is in control of this and deserves to be in control of this. For me personally, I’m not even thinking about a fight, a comeback or anything like that. I’m just focused on going race by race and trying to maximize every weekend,” Russell told the press.
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Antonelli has been holding an advantage over Russell for much of the current season and has consistently extended his margin in the standings while seeking his first F1 title. Given this scenario, Russell assessed that overturning the difference will be an extremely difficult task.
“He is performing incredibly. It will be exceptionally difficult to overcome this difference. I’m just accepting that it is what it is, and from here, I will enjoy and try to win as many races as possible,” concluded the British driver.
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