F1 News: George Russell fighting with 'one hand behind his back' at Mercedes

Mercedes

George Russell fighting with 'one hand behind his back' at Mercedes

Russell isn't far off Antonelli in the standings, but the timesheets tell a different story

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 19 July 2026 09:42

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Mercedes F1 driver George Russell was left praying that one day he will understand his 2026 machinery after team-mate Kimi Antonelli clinched pole position on Saturday for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell was outdone by the 19-year-old in every session at Spa-Francorchamps leading up to Sunday's main event, highlighting the gap in performance which appears to be growing in Belgium.

After Antonelli finished outside the top 10 at Silverstone last time out, Russell is only 25 points behind him in the drivers' standings, so his chances of winning his maiden championship are still relatively high.

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However, what became abundantly clear in Spa is that without Mercedes' reliability issues hampering his on-track results, Antonelli seems far more capable than Russell when it comes to finding extra pace from their already dominant F1 car.

At past race weekends where the Brit has struggled to match Antonelli's lap times, it has been suggested that their difference in driving styles could explain their performance gap, but after qualifying in the Ardennes forest on Saturday, Russell is convinced this isn't the case.

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Russell has his work cut out for him at Belgian GP

Speaking after Saturday's qualifying in Spa, Russell gave a painfully honest interview in the media pen regarding his result and chances in Sunday's Belgian GP.

"Anything can happen but the truth is battling against my team-mate, who is such an incredible driver and doing such a great job at the moment, in the best of times is a tall order," admitted Russell after being outqualified by his teenage team-mate for the sixth time this season.

"I feel confident head to head I can achieve it. But when it feels like you are battling with one hand behind your back it's a challenge," he continued.

"But we had the issue in Silverstone and ended up P2 on the podium so I pray, I'm going to try and endure the pain of this issue tomorrow and hope for a great result and try to find a solution for next week [in Hungary]."