George Russell says 'nothing's clicking' at Mercedes with F1 title bid in meltdown

George Russell

George Russell says 'nothing's clicking' at Mercedes with F1 title bid in meltdown

The momentum isn't with Russell at Mercedes

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 8 June 2026 14:57 Updated: 16:06

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George Russell was left perplexed during last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, where the Mercedes F1 star admitted 'nothing's clicking' for him with the 2026 car.

There was a time when Russell was right at home in the W17. In fact, after winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Russell whooped over team radio: "I like this car, I like this engine."

Fast-forward four months later and it's an entirely different story for Russell. Sure, he could smile graciously when Kimi Antonelli became the youngest ever pole-sitter in China, and could subsequently clap politely when the Italian achieved his first race win.

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But then that safety car in Japan? Miami's 'outlier' track? Reliability in Canada? Three further race wins in Antonelli's pocket? Well, then you've got Russell throwing his headrest petulantly out of the car. And rightly so!

Russell was flawless throughout the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, securing sprint pole, the sprint win and main race pole. If he hadn't retired it's likely he would have won in Montreal.

But no one will remember that. They will remember that a chasm opened up between his team-mate and himself in the championship. And they'll certainly remember his thrashing two weeks later in Monaco.

Russell's Mercedes shame highlighted by Antonelli

Russell could perhaps have dealt with not obtaining pole position in Monaco, if it had been a Ferrari or a Red Bull. After all, Mercedes were tipped to lose their crown thanks to those low speed corners.

Antonelli, however, decided he would pull off the lap of his career to steal pole position from Max Verstappen by 43 milliseconds. By doing so, he shamed Russell further, who could only set the sixth fastest time.

This wasn't reliability. Russell lost out on pure pace at a circuit where a driver can make the difference, and the Brit claims it's because he hasn't clicked with the W17.

Speaking to the media, he explained: "The last few races it's just been so challenging for me just to get the laps together. I remember at the first two races of the season, every lap I did, practice or quali, it was always P1 or P2.

"Now, nothing's clicking. I've got some ideas, but my driving style is just not working with the car at the moment."

"I'm not having a lot of confidence in the car right now, I do have some ideas why that is, but I don't know right now.

"We've done some good work to understand some things with my driving style that I've had all of my years at Mercedes and this car isn't bringing out the best in me. So, I need to adjust to it or make some development changes to help me drive more naturally. I'm scratching my head right now."

Things went from bad to worse for the Brit on Sunday as Antonelli clung onto his race lead after a unusually dramatic race in the principality, becoming the youngest Monaco GP winner in history.

Not only that, but Antonelli's victory last time out has further cemented his place at the top of the standings, with Lewis Hamilton now his nearest contender.

Antonelli is 66 points ahead of the seven-time champion, whilst Russell has now been left languishing in third after another weekend to forget.

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