With Mercedes riding high after three rounds of competition in 2026, the Miami Formula One Grand Prix was awaited with great expectations. Would Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren, with their rafts of upgrades, close the gap to the runaway leaders?
More importantly, could George Russell stop the runaway train that his teammate has become since winning his maiden GP in China? Well, after the one and only practice session—extended to 90 minutes by the FIA—the Mercedes duo languished some 0.7 seconds off the pace down in fifth and sixth place.
In Sprint Qualifying, Lando Norris laid down a marker with his final lap some 0.4 seconds ahead of the field, until a last-minute effort from Kimi Antonelli hauled himself within just over a tenth of a second of the McLaren pole time. He would start P2 in the Sprint, while his teammate floundered only to make P6.
The moment of radio silence for Russell
There was a telling moment of total silence from George as his race engineer, over team radio, read out the top five qualifiers and their times one by one. This included his teammate in P2.
After the session, Russell appeared to put a brave face on his 0.4-second deficit to his teammate, stating in the media pen: “On my side, I’ve been struggling today—Miami’s not a track that I love, to be honest, especially in these hotter conditions. But it’s only Sprint Qualifying, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
The senior Mercedes driver went on to explain how his “precise” driving style did not favour circuits like Miami, where the grip is low and the car slides around. Russell enjoys a high-grip environment where he can confidently place his car exactly where he wishes without the troublesome “oversteer” or “understeer.”
In the Sprint race, Russell battled to a fourth-place finish, although his radio messages were less than inspiring. “I’m just sliding everywhere. The balance is just not there in the twisty stuff. It’s like Zandvoort all over again.” Having noted his driver’s comments, Russell went on to explain to his engineer: “Yeah, it’s just low grip. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I just can’t get it to hook up.”
Wolff: Excuses his senior driver for bogey track
And the narrative was set as the Mercedes team boss joined the propaganda machine, explaining to Sky F1 how his senior driver struggled on low-grip circuits. “George said to me he’s struggled with certain tracks. Here, the asphalt is very smooth,” said Toto Wolff. “It’s almost like a [tennis] player that is good on clay, and another on a hard surface.”
Russell added Zandvoort and, strangely, Interlagos as other circuits where the surface is similar, despite him winning the Brazilian Grand Prix back in 2022. Clearly, George felt defensive as to his efforts in the Sprint, despite penalties relegating Antonelli behind the British driver.
He was asked by Sky Sports’ Rachel Brookes whether the Sprint result was some kind of salvage operation, but George once again appeared to suggest there was little he could do at one of his “bogey” tracks. “I just struggle on these low-grip circuits; so here [in Miami], Zandvoort, Brazil. It was the same last year. It’s something I want to work on, but there are three tracks out of the 24 that are outliers, and Miami is definitely top of that list.”
Next up was Grand Prix Qualifying and an opportunity for Russell to reset. Yet once again, he rarely troubled the top three times in each of the three sessions. His final effort saw him qualify P5 for Sunday’s race, but again he was 4/10ths behind his teammate, who snatched pole from Max Verstappen.
Questions arise over Russell’s mentality
In an effort to sound defiant, Russell mused over the following day’s Grand Prix: “I’m not thinking damage limitation. I’m just going out there to maximise the result. That was the same in the Sprint. Tomorrow is a different day with weather on the radar, and we saw again with the race starts, everything can change in the first few hundred metres.”
This was the third successive qualifying session Russell had finished behind his teammate, and clearly, such a string of results sees the pressure start to build. Sky Sports’ Naomi Schiff observed: “The worst thing you see is your teammate making more of a gap, going out every session and being quicker than him.
“And regardless of whether it’s a driving style thing or not, if he ends up in a head-to-head battle with his teammate, he’s got to be better than him every time he goes out there. It might swing around again, but obviously, George is going to be irritated by that.”
Despite the carnage at the start of the Grand Prix caused by Max Verstappen’s spin, Russell made little headway toward the front of the field. Meanwhile, on laps one and two, Max Verstappen was making his way back through the field from P13, taking five places before lap 3 began.
Russell finally copies his team mate diff settings
Although Russell yo-yo’d his way past the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, he stopped early for new tyres and became mired in the midfield.
- Russell: “I have zero grip on this tyre. It’s just sliding everywhere. It feels like we’re driving on ice.”
- Engineer: “Copy, George. We can see the surface temps are high. Try to manage the slides in Sector 2.”
- Russell: “I can’t manage it if I want to stay with the pack. The car just isn’t working in these temperatures.”
On lap 45, Russell decided enough was enough and demanded from his race engineer: “What is Kimi doing differently on the diff and brake bias? Give me his settings. I need to try something else because this is going nowhere.” His engineer replied: “Copy, George. Switching you to ‘Map 12’ for the diff and moving bias forward 2%. Let’s see if that helps the rotation.”
Suddenly, Russell appeared to pick up the pace and begin to close the gap to Verstappen ahead, which had stubbornly refused to diminish. “Okay, that’s much better. The car actually turns now. Why didn’t we do this thirty laps ago?” Russell reported in.
Is George defeated by Antonelli already?
”Understood, George. Gap to Verstappen is now 1.2 seconds. You are the fastest car on track,” came the reply. In a last-lap move which saw him leapfrog Verstappen and the stricken Charles Leclerc, George finally came home in fourth. “P4… I’ll take it after that start. But honestly, we need to look at why we were so far off the pace for 80% of that race. I know this place is tough for me, but that was a real struggle,” reported Russell over team radio.
For one of the most elite 22 racing drivers in the world, Russell’s defeatist attitude across the whole of the Miami weekend was highly surprising. Then again, it may be that he is realising his dreams of becoming F1 champion driver are being crushed by his 18-year-old teammate.
While he remains second in the driver standings, George is now 20 points—almost a Grand Prix win—behind his young Italian teammate. It was a weekend to forget again for George Russell, who defensively pointed out, “I’ve not forgotten how to drive.”
“Clearly, Kimi’s in a really great place at the moment and momentum is with him. But I’ve got enough experience myself in [junior] championships I’ve won on how momentum swings throughout a year… To be honest, I’m not even considering it [the gap]. I just want to get back onto the top step of the podium,” Russell concluded.
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