George Russell finished his first race of the 2026 Formula 1 season off the podium. In this Sunday’s (29) Japanese GP, the Briton had a poor start and lost many positions, even leading the race at one point, but crossed the finish line in fourth.
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As soon as the lights went out in Suzuka, after lining up in second, the Briton, as well as Kimi Antonelli, ended up plummeting down the field. Gradually he regained ground, but one lap after his pit stop a safety car was required, which ended up hindering the competitor significantly.
In the end, he saw his Mercedes teammate win and take the lead in the standings, while Russell was only fourth and is nine points behind the championship lead.
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“We were very unlucky this weekend, which is a shame as we were definitely in the fight for the win today. After a difficult start, we managed to get back to P2, but we stopped just one lap before the safety car came out. This completely changed the course of the race and, unfortunately, after starting in P3, we lost two more positions, first by hitting the power limit and then by an unexpected superclipping. It was quite frustrating, but that’s how racing goes sometimes,” he said.
“It was clear this weekend that our competitors are starting to optimize their cars much more now. We had a great start to the season, but our rivals are on our heels, as we saw today. The break in the calendar will also give everyone a chance to further develop their cars, so we know that when we return to the track in Miami, we will have a close fight ahead,” he added.
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