George Russell missed his post-race media duties in Mexico City on Sunday as he was “distraught” following Kimi Antonelli’s F1 title triumph.
Russell, who was the pre-season favourite for this year’s world championship, has been outperformed by his 20-year-old teammate this season as Antonelli sealed the 2026 title with four races to spare on Sunday, becoming the youngest champion in the history of the sport.
As for the race itself, it rather summed up Russell’s sorry season. Starting in second, a mechanical fault outside of his control resulted in the Briton dropping places on lap one before a clash with Isack Hadjar resulted in a 10-second time penalty. While Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Antonelli made up the top three, Russell finished a distant sixth.
Russell did enter the baseball stadium section of the circuit to congratulate Antonelli on his title straight after the race but then failed to show for his mandatory media duties, with no initial explanation given by Mercedes.
But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, in his own media session, explained: "I saw George after the race on the FIA scales, and obviously he's distraught about the situation.
"It was a great show of sportsmanship to go and see Kimi. I have known George for such a long time. So, I saw him and thought, for a racing driver, this is a catastrophic moment.
"And maybe today the race was a little bit a picture of his season. This was a race for him to win. We had the pace in the car. And we let him down on the first straight. The energy delivery is not what we thought it should be.
"And so I'm very much with him at the moment. I've been in situations where it's very, very difficult to cope.
"So, him not doing the media work, or leaving the track, is absolutely understandable. Him staying would have actually surprised me."
Mercedes as a team were fined £4,173 for Russell’s absence. The 28-year-old is expected to speak to the media on Thursday ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.
While he has struggled for pace and consistency compared to Antonelli, Russell has also had his share of rotten luck this year. He has endured two mechanical DNFs, costing him 40 points, and has experienced regular mishaps with his electrical systems at crucial moments.
Sunday’s result also means he drops to fourth in the world championship standings, behind Verstappen and Hamilton – a proposition which would have been unfathomable midway through the 2026 campaign.
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