George Russell Not Feeling Lucky After Strong Start To The 2026 F1 Season

George Russell admitted feeling short of fortune after another troubled Japanese Grand Prix, where technical problems and a safety car harmed a possible podium. The Mercedes driver left Suzuka with fourth place, slipping further behind team-mate Kimi Antonelli, yet remaining within nine points in the drivers' championship after the opening phase of the 2026 Formula One season.

The campaign had begun strongly for George Russell, who claimed victory at the Australian Grand Prix in the first race under the 2026 regulations. A second-place finish in China followed, then fourth in Japan, as Mercedes appeared to adjust to the new rules more quickly than rivals while still battling reliability setbacks across recent weekends.

Those reliability concerns first became clear in China, where an issue on George Russell's car during qualifying opened the door for Kimi Antonelli to secure pole position. Antonelli then converted that advantage into the first Formula One race win of Antonelli's career, while Russell reflected on misfortune and rhythm-disrupting glitches affecting both performance and grid position.

George Russell expanded on that sense of frustration when speaking to Sky Sports, stressing how quickly fortunes can change in Formula One. Russell said: "I'm not feeling too lucky. This is racing. Over the course of a year, sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it goes against you." That assessment framed Russell's view of the last two events and the shifting momentum inside Mercedes.

During the Japanese Grand Prix, George Russell experienced a comparable problem, then saw strategy affected by an ill-timed safety car. At the restart, Russell could not fully deploy energy, which invited pressure from rivals and changed the dynamic of the closing laps around Suzuka, where tyre condition and battery charge proved decisive on long runs.

Russell outlined how those issues cost places late in the Japanese Grand Prix, pointing to problems under the safety car and in wheel-to-wheel fights. Russell said: "It's annoying that I missed out on the podium because at the safety-car restart, I couldn't charge my battery, so we got overtaken by Lewis [Hamilton]. And then another problem with Charles [Leclerc], with the battery. It's still very complicated, these cars, it's still very early, and you have to make these mistakes to learn. But it feels like at the moment all the issues are coming on my side, so that is pretty frustrating, to be honest."

Despite these setbacks, George Russell stays firmly in the early title mix, sitting nine points behind Kimi Antonelli with three races completed. The calendar has also been reshaped, as the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and Bahrain Grand Prix were both cancelled because of conflict in the Middle East, shifting focus towards the next scheduled round in Miami on May 3.

Across the paddock, many note that Mercedes seems comfortable with the 2026 rule changes, yet George Russell's recent difficulties highlight how complex current cars remain. With technical learning still ongoing and Russell convinced luck has favoured Antonelli so far, the driver expects the balance of fortune and reliability to be tested again when Formula One resumes in Miami.