Overtakes suffered, on track and in the standings
The first ‘slip-up’ of 2026 at Mercedes is signed by the driver you don’t expect, namely the ‘veteran’ George Russell who at Suzuka for the first time this season did not even make it onto the podium, finishing the Japanese GP in fourth place. The Englishman has thus also lost the championship leadership to the advantage of his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who now leads the World Championship with a margin of nine points over Russell.
There was certainly a component of bad luck in Russell’s defeat: the Safety Car caused by the terrible accident involving Ollie Bearman actually entered the track right after his pit stop and just before Antonelli’s stop, thus guaranteeing the Bolognese driver a ‘free’ pit stop that allowed him to take the lead of the race. Russell then also paid for some battery management issues during the restart and in the following laps, being overtaken at two different moments by the two Ferraris. His climb then stopped at the foot of the podium, hindered by the magnificent defense and a splendid counter-overtake by Charles Leclerc.
It always happens to me
Speaking to Sky Sport F1 Russell let himself go in an outburst about the bad luck that he says is haunting him and seemed to see a few too many ghosts, in an internal rivalry with Antonelli that the #63 seems to be starting to suffer from quite a bit.
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“I certainly don’t feel lucky – stated Russell – but that’s how racing is. During the year sometimes things go your way, other times they don’t. It’s annoying not having managed to get on the podium because at the restart behind the Safety Car I couldn’t recharge the battery and I was overtaken by Lewis. After that I had another problem again with the battery, with Charles. Dangerous situation? I was going so slow that it was obvious he could avoid me, but these cars are still very complicated”.
“It’s still very early and you have to make mistakes to be able to learn – the Briton added – but at the moment all the problems seem to be coming from my side and this is quite frustrating, honestly. Did I lack speed? I wouldn’t say that. If there hadn’t been that difference on the flying lap maybe we would have won the race and it would have been a different conversation. I don’t have much else to say“.
