George Russell has admitted he needs to be better if he is going to stay in title contention this season.Having begun the season as the clear title favourite, Russell has been stunned by the pace of his teenage Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli and trails the Italian by 25 points at the top of the standings after nine rounds.
While Russell has suffered several moments of major misfortune, Antonelli has also had bad luck in recent weeks, retiring due to an engine failure in Barcelona and then dropping from a potential victory to outside of the points in Sunday’s British Grand Prix after another technical issue.
Despite lacking pace throughout the weekend, Russell profited from mishaps and errors from rivals to finish second at Silverstone, gaining 18 points on Antonelli.Russell said: “The feeling (of the car) was good, but the lap times were slow. And as I said, there were things outside of my control that contributed a lot towards that, and things in my control.
“I’m still struggling to understand this car. I probably still leave this weekend, albeit extremely grateful to stand on the podium, I leave less satisfied than Canada, when I broke down from the lead.
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Mercedes driver George Russell hits the wall during Q1 in Silverstone
“And if I want to fight for the championship, the performances need to be better. I need to be better. I need to be working better with my team. We need to be maximising everything.”
Mercedes’ technical issues have allowed Lewis Hamilton to remain in striking distance, with the seven-time world champion just seven points behind Russell in the drivers’ standings after finishing third at Silverstone.Russell added: “We’ve got a close fight now with Ferrari, so it’s not just Kimi and I, Lewis is still very close. It needs to be improved.”
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Highlights from the 2026 British Grand Prix
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