Last Updated on March 28 2026, 3:03 pm
George Russell has been a Mercedes driver since he signed for their junior programme in 2017. Prior to this he had tried to persuade Toto Wolff to sign him two years earlier delivering an impressive powerpoint presentation to the Mercedes F1 team boss.
Yet having convinced the Austrian to back him in European F3, he was vetoed by Lawrence Stroll who part owned the Prema racing team the affiliate of Mercedes. Russell joined Carlin who were not competitive, although he won a round at Silverstone proving his worth.
In 2016 he raced for Hitech and come 2017 we was offered a place in the Mercedes junior driver programme. Toto Wolff set him hard targets of winning the international GP3 category and again for the following year in F2. He duly fulfilled Wolff’s challenge and in 2019 Mercedes placed Russell at Williams giving him his F1 break.
Williams fail to produce a competitive car
Williams had done well between 2015-17 finishing no worse than 5th in the championship, just behind the top four teams. Yet George’s expectations of racing in a competitive car were dashed, given their cars during 2019/20 were the worst of the field. Russell scored just 3 points across both seasons.
So strapped for cash were the team, they were set to replace Russell with a driver attracting more sponsorship for 2020, but Kevin Magnussen didn’t come up with the required funding for this to take place.
Williams improved a little during 2021, finishing ahead of both Alfa Romeo and Haas F1. In a bizarre rain swept weekend in Belgium, Russell claimed his first podium with a second placed finish, although the race only lasted three laps behind the safety car. Russell had lucked in during qualifying, getting his Q3 lap in before the heavens opened. This saw him start the Grand Prix behind pole sitter Max Verstappen.
Despite protestations from Lewis Hamilton, who made it clear he would prefer to retain Valterri Bottas as his Mercedes team mate for 2022, Wolff decided it was time to give Russell his chance. Having seen Lewis Hamilton battle for the championship the previous year, Russell joined a Mercedes team in 2022 which were only the third best team on the grid.
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Russell dominates Hamilton
Even so, Russell dominated his seven time champion team mate over the first half of the season, although Hamilton claimed three P2 finishes in the last four races to close the gap to his team mate to 35 points. Russell became only the third team mate of Hamilton to beat him across a full season.
George went on to beat Hamilton again I what became their final year together in 2024, as early in the year Lewis announced he was leaving the Mercedes team for Ferrari the following season. This saw rookie Italian driver Kimi Antonelli promoted alongside Russell in what many believed to be a gamble given his age of just 18 years.
Russell comfortably beat his inexperienced team mate last year, but again Mercedes for the third year in a row did not have a title contending car. As many predicted, come the big new F1 engine regulations change, Mercedes are now favourite to win both F1 championships this season. Finally Russell finds himself the senior driver in a team heading for title glory, but will it all end in disappointment once again for the English driver?
At the season opener in Melbourne, Russell qualified on pole position and was a solid 3/10ths quicker than Antonelli. The Italian made a bad start in the race, losing positions to both Ferrari’s and by the time he had recovered his team mate was down the road, heading for the chequered flag.
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Antonelli delivers in China
Come the second round in China, Russell again out qualified his team mate for the Sprint race on Saturday. The margin was similar, although a little smaller than in Melbourne. Come the race Antonelli again suffered a difficult start, losing several places then a time penalty for an incident on lap 1 was handed his way meaning P5 was the best result he could conjure up.
Then come Grand Prix qualifying in the afternoon, it was time for Antonelli to shine. In the first session he was a fraction under a tenth slower than his team mate and went one better in Q2 edging Russell by 0.082 of a second. In the top ten shootout, Russell had gear box gremlins at the start of the session, meaning he had one just run to beat his team mate to pole.
Yet Kimi delivered a blistering time of 1:32.064 almost a quarter of a second faster than his more experienced team mate. He backed this up on Sunday as Russell scrapped with the Ferrari’s by heading down the road to the chequered flag, claiming his maiden F1 victory.
George Russell came into the weekend of the Japanese Grand Prix holding a four point lead over his team mate. In practice one he was marginally quicker than Antonelli, but by practice three the younger driver had established a dominant lead over Russell of a quarter of a second.
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Could Russell lose the title to Kimi Antonelli?
The more experienced man struck first blood in qualifying, finishing the session overall quickest. But come Q3, it was Antonelli who dominated his team mate. He was quickest on the first run with a 1:28.778 some 3/10ths faster than his team mate Russell.
As is the want with the silly new powertrain regulations, as the drivers pushed harder in qualifying, they in fact go slower. Neither Antonelli nor Russell improved their times and for a second race weekend in a row, it will be be the young Italian who starts from pole position. Almost half of the races held in Suzuka have been won from pole position and given the complaints of Russell after the qualifying session he is favourite for tomorrow.
George complained he an his engineers had “tweaked” something on his car after the final practice round, which made it at times “undriveable.” With the cars now in parc ferme, there’s nothing George and his side of the garage can do to reverse the setup mistake before there race and the sight of an Italian on the top step of the podium looms large once again.
If he were to win the 2026 Japanese GP, Kimi Antonelli will take the lead in the drivers championship, which underlines his challenge to Russell for this season should go all the way. For George its an unscripted nightmare waiting to happen as he finally gets a car capable of winning an F1 title, but is being upstaged by his talented junior team mate.
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Last Updated on March 28 2026, 1:55 pm
Its weekend three of the all new Formula One era and time for the Japanese Grand Prix. The iconic Suzuka circuit is hosting its 36th F1 event and over the decades has been the venue for many incredible memorable moments.
Ayrton Senna stalled his McLaren car on the grid in 1988, falling through the field to P14 before an incredible recovery drive in torrential rain to pass Alain Prost for lead in the closing stages of the race to claim his first F1 title.
In an emotional season finale in 1996, Damon Hill became the first son of an F1 champion to claim the title himself, leading from start to finish whilst team mate Jacques Villeneuve suffered a mechanical failure which ended his race.
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13 and a career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media. Having trained in investigative journalism and contributed to several European sports outlets, Hunt brings rigour and polish to every article. His role is to sharpen analysis, check facts and ensure TJ13’s daily output meets the highest editorial standards.
The 2026 WDC will be a fight between Kimi and Oscar with Russell a dstant somewhere
He is at best a Saturday driver.