George Russell left the Formula 1 Japanese GP frustrated after missing the podium for the first time in the 2026 season. The Mercedes driver attributed the result to bad luck and technical problems that, according to him, compromised his race in Suzuka.
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Considered a title favorite before the start of the championship, the Briton saw the weekend end with a setback, even falling behind teammate Kimi Antonelli in the drivers’ standings. Fourth place also marked the second consecutive race in which Russell was outperformed by the young Italian on Sunday.
Russell highlighted that the timing of the safety car and battery management failures had a direct impact on his race: “It’s annoying to have missed the podium because, on the restart after the safety car, I couldn’t charge my battery, so I was overtaken by Lewis (Hamilton). Then there was another problem with Charles (Leclerc), also with the battery. These cars are still very complicated, it’s still very early, and you need to make these mistakes to learn,” he said.
The Briton also assessed that the result could have been completely different depending on the circumstances: “What can you do? It’s pure luck. If it had been a lap later, we would have won the race, and if there hadn’t been the accident, maybe we would have regretted not stopping at that moment. Sometimes things go in your favor, sometimes against you.”
Russell also highlighted that the last few race weekends have been particularly difficult for him: “It feels like, at this moment, in these last two weekends, all the problems we’ve had have been on my side, and we’re going through this pain,” he stated.
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Despite the frustration, the Mercedes driver maintained a pragmatic tone when evaluating the start of the season: “That’s how it happened. I can’t give a better answer. Sometimes people have problems in practice, we haven’t had any problems in practice this season. I had problems in the qualifying session, Lando (Norris) didn’t have problems in qualifying, but he did in practice. It’s a matter of luck with these new cars,” he added.
Russell also reinforced that he is not worried about the championship fight: “It’s the third race of 22. Not am I worried, it’s a long year. I can’t keep thinking about it,” he added.
In the Japanese GP, Russell started from second position but finished more than 15 seconds behind Antonelli. The result reinforced the Briton’s difficult moment at the start of the season, while the internal battle at Mercedes begins to take on new dimensions.
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