Martin Brundle tells “broken” George Russell what he must do after F1 title defeat
Martin Brundle offers George Russell advice after his F1 title loss.
George Russell must find an “overdrive” to respond to being “broken” in his Formula 1 title defeat to Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, according to Martin Brundle.
Antonelli secured his maiden F1 world title with four races to spare by finishing third in last Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, while Russell could only finish sixth after being hit with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar on the opening lap.
Russell started the season as the clear favourite and won the opening race in Australia, before a combination of struggles with the 2026 Mercedes car, and a run of poor reliability, ultimately blew his title chances.
Reacting to the outcome of the championship, Sky Sports F1’s Brundle told Sky Sports News: "Russell will be broken, because he waited at Williams a long time as a Mercedes junior to get his chance. He got it just as they stopped winning.
“They suddenly turned up with these new 2026 cars, an early dominant car, it's not dominant right now, but it was certainly in the first phase of the season. And then this kid turns up and just transforms from a bit of a liability in year one to a generational talent in year two.
"George has had to observe that, and I think it's affected his own performance. He's been so unlucky but then Antonelli had his fair share of unreliability, dropping out of races too. What will hit George hardest is that he couldn't match Antonelli for speed, for consistent speed. That's all that matters in this business, the stopwatch, it's a very antiquated system.
"Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year running through F1 cars, we live and die by the stopwatch. George has not been as fast as Kimi, especially in the second half of stints in a run on set of tyres. That's what will get to George.
"It might break George, but I think it'll make him, he'll find an overdrive, he has to. He has to come back next year and lift his game up. Meanwhile, he's had to suffer an awful season for himself. A brilliant season for a 19-year-old who has turned 20 through that season.”
Russell was said to be “distraught” after Sunday’s race in Mexico and failed to conduct his mandatory media obligations as he left the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit early.
In a post on Instagram, the 28-year-old Briton admitted he had “more bad days than good” in 2026.
"Now feels like a pretty suitable moment to speak from the heart,” Russell wrote.
"This season started off exactly how I had hoped but it very quickly unravelled with tough luck and poor performances.
"It's been the first proper season of my career where I've had more bad days than good.
"Has it been tough to deal with? Yes, very.
"Has it been tough to pick myself up week in, week out? Yes, very.
"Confusion at times? Often.
"All I know is that I've given it my all and 2026 was not meant to be my year."
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
