George Russell broke his silence on a brutal 2026 campaign with an Instagram post that laid bare the emotional toll of watching teammate Kimi Antonelli lift the title he once chased. Russell opened the season with victory in Australia but quickly spiraled into what he called "the first proper season of my career where I've had more bad days than good." The Mexico City weekend crystallized his year: he qualified within a tenth of pole, then lost positions to a power deployment fault on lap one and collected a 10-second penalty after clipping Isack Hadjar. He finished sixth while Antonelli secured the championship with third. Russell's admission that "2026 was not meant to be my year" carries weight — Mercedes built a title-winning car under the new regs, but the narrow setup window that suits Antonelli has left Russell searching for grip. Four rounds remain for redemption.
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