George Russell admitted that his chances of winning the Formula 1 title in 2026 are close to disappearing. The Brit finished the Spanish GP in fifth place, again behind his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, who won the race in Madrid.
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The result extended Antonelli’s lead over Russell in the championship to 81 points, after the Italian secured his eighth win of the season and 12th podium in fourteen GPs. It was also the fifth consecutive time Antonelli outperformed Russell, leaving the 28-year-old driver with little room to respond for the rest of the year.
Russell started only sixth on the new Madring circuit and explained that he tried to push the pace at turn 11, but the tires couldn’t handle the effort. During the race, he also had contact with Oscar Piastri at the start and was ultimately disadvantaged by the virtual safety car deployment on lap fourteen.
The timing was particularly bad for Russell, as he had planned to stay on track until around lap forty. With drivers who started on medium or soft tires making their stops around lap fifteen, the neutralization ended up favoring the competitors’ strategy. Russell switched from hard to medium tires and later had to pit again to return to hards.
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“It was a very frustrating moment with the safety car. We expected to reach lap forty, we knew Kimi and the drivers on mediums and softs would stop around lap fifteen, and the safety car came out on lap 14,” he said.
Even with an additional stop, Russell pressured Charles Leclerc at the end and finished fifth, while the Ferrari driver managed to preserve fourth place. The Brit assessed that Mercedes’ performance was better than the result achieved but acknowledged the difficulties in overtaking on the Madring circuit.
“I’m not going to say it’s over, but it is exceptionally unlikely that I am in this fight. I’m not even thinking about being in the title fight because I don’t think I am. That almost allows me to focus race by race and try to win as much as possible. Whatever has to happen, will happen, but… that’s where we are now,” concluded the British driver.
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