Russell concedes Antonelli is faster but insists he has found an answer to 66-point deficit

George Russell has all but conceded the 2026 Formula 1 world championship to team-mate Kimi Antonelli, admitting the 20-year-old “deserves to be leading” after the Italian’s sensational Monza win from 19th place stretched his advantage to 66 points with 10 rounds remaining.

The result was a stark reversal of pre-season expectations. Russell had entered the new-regulations era as the title favourite, buoyed by arguably his finest campaign in 2025, when he maximised the W16 to finish fourth in the standings while a raw Antonelli endured an inconsistent rookie year in seventh.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Madrid Grand Prix, Russell said he has now identified the root cause of his struggles. “I do have an answer and I’m working on it,” he told reporters. The Briton had flagged as early as Monaco — during Antonelli’s five-race winning streak — that his smoother driving style was ill-suited to the 2026 cars compared to his team-mate’s more aggressive approach.

Since the summer break, Russell has shown tangible signs of progress, outqualifying Antonelli in each of the last three sessions. Race pace, however, remains a problem, as Monza underlined when Antonelli swept past the second-placed Russell to claim a win that has put one hand on his maiden title.

“I think it’s been much improved,” Russell said of his style adaptation. “Fundamentally changing the driving style, I think, is achievable for a lot of drivers. But then actually being fast with it is another topic. My race pace has been on a par with him in these two races and I couldn’t say that pre-break. So I’m definitely very pleased with that progression.”

The 28-year-old was candid about what a title comeback would require. “I definitely need some luck and I need some good performances,” he said. “Right now he’s performing better than me, so he deserves to be leading the championship. He’s yet to have a bad weekend in terms of performance — he’s performing exceptionally well.”

Russell stopped short of formally conceding, noting there is still a long way to go, but his framing — that he will need fortune as well as speed to overhaul Antonelli — reflects the scale of the task facing the pre-season favourite as the second half of the season gets under way.