Russell keeps getting kicked in brutal 2026 season despite Mercedes constructors' title

George Russell finished fourth at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, recovering from a spin at the pit exit during his switch from intermediate to slick tyres, as Mercedes secured the constructors’ championship without their lead driver on the podium.

Former IndyCar driver and F1 TV pundit James Hinchcliffe did not shy away from the contrast between the team’s triumph and Russell’s personal frustration. “He’s a bit defeated, isn’t he? I mean, and kind of rightly so. It’s been a tough old season,” Hinchcliffe said on the F1 TV post-race show.

“There’s been a lot of beatings and a lot of bad luck on top of it. So, it’s a difficult situation for a driver to be in, especially in a season this long. When it’s only a 16, 17, 18-race season, the punishment would have been over by now. He just keeps getting kicked at different points, and it’s a tough thing to stay motivated and stay cheery about.”

Russell entered 2026 as the clear title favourite, having won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese sprint race. But a series of setbacks — most of them beyond his control — derailed his championship challenge. Team-mate Kimi Antonelli ultimately won nine grands prix and claimed his maiden title, becoming the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history.

In Brazil, Russell also missed out on pole position to McLaren’s Lando Norris before the race unravelled further with his pit-exit spin.

Despite the personal disappointment, Russell struck a measured tone after the race. “We struggled more on the intermediate towards the end, so there are definitely things for us to understand, but overall, I’m leaving this weekend encouraged by my performance,” he said.

“I’ve been working hard to get back to that level consistently and I’ve felt much more like myself here.”

Russell was also careful to frame the weekend within the broader context of Mercedes’ resurgence. “Most importantly, we achieved what we came here to do and won the constructors’ championship. We would have liked to have done it in a bit more style today, but it’s an incredible achievement for everyone in the team.”

“We’ve had four difficult years and the whole organisation put so much work into getting us back into this position. When I joined Mercedes in 2022, we hoped we’d be fighting for championships regularly, so to have gone through that journey and now get back to the top is something we should all be incredibly proud of.”

The constructors’ title offers Mercedes genuine cause for celebration, but for Russell individually, the 2026 season stands as one of the sport’s more painful near-misses — a campaign defined as much by what went wrong as by what the team ultimately achieved.