George Russell's 2026 title bid collapsed under the weight of relentless bad luck. The Mercedes driver started the year as championship favorite but watched teammate Kimi Antonelli claim the crown in Mexico while he nursed wounds from what he called mental exhaustion. The damage report is brutal: Russell and his engineers counted 14 problem-plagued races out of 20, issues he initially chalked up to bad luck but now admits demand deeper investigation. He sits fourth on 250 points, 11 behind Verstappen and nine behind Hamilton in third. Even returning to Interlagos, where he scored his first F1 win in 2022, couldn't lift his spirits ahead of the weekend. "Do I come in with high expectations? Honestly, no," he said Thursday. The question now is whether Mercedes can fix what broke Russell's season before 2027 starts.
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