George Russell could only manage third place in qualifying for the Belgian GP, even with a 10-place grid penalty for Lando Norris handing the Mercedes driver a free position.
Russell’s 2026 campaign has been characterised with difficulties with his W17. Despite being the far more experienced driver at Mercedes, it is his 19-year-old teammate Kimi Antonelli that has been leading the pack.
Russell believes car problem responsible for lack of pace
This weekend in Belgium has been another complicated one for Russell, from the first laps in Free Practice 1 to the end of Q3.
Antonelli has consistently been the fastest Mercedes, often enjoying an advantage of several tenths over the #63 car.
At surface value, this is a significant deficit. Whilst misfortune in Silverstone denied Antonelli a likely victory and opportunity to extend his points lead over Russell, the 19-year-old will be optimistic about strengthening his Championship advantage if he maintains his pace advantage over Russell.
However, George Russell does not think his deficit to Antonelli can be solely attributed to driver performance.
Speaking post-qualifying in Belgium, the 28-year-old spoke about some of his frustrations behind the scenes:
“It could be worse, but it could be much better. Yesterday I was losing 8 tenths on the straights, and today I am losing 4 tenths. It is a step in the right direction.
“We saw this at Silverstone, and we thought we had discovered the problem. We thought it was the brakes, it wasn’t.
“Then we thought it was my driving style with the throttle, and I convinced myself that it was something in me. But now we are very confident it isn’t my driving style.
“There is a serious issue at play here, and although the team are working so hard to resolve it, every lap I do… I am anywhere between two and six tenths down on the straights, it is pretty infuriating.
“We are all trying to solve what is going on… I am watching on my steering wheel that I am losing speed when you are full gas on the straight and I feel powerless.
“We don’t know what is going on. I don’t think it is the power unit. There is something slowing me down on the straights.”
Reliability woes for Mercedes
On the one hand, Mercedes will be eager to settle the problem that Russell is raising. The 28-year-old is adamant that some unknown issue is limiting his output.
Simultaneously, there are other reliability concerns for Toto Wolff’s personnel to address. Above all else, reliability is becoming a key limiting factor for the Silver Arrows.
Russell’s retirement in Canada, Antonelli’s DNF in Spain (and major setback in Silverstone) have all been costly for the German constructor.
Although the W17’s performance is undeniable, it often leaves points on the table due to unforced errors. This has allowed the likes of Ferrari to pick up victories and keep themselves within touching distance in the constructors.
In short, Russell is understandably about what he described as a major problem. At the same time, his complaints will join a long list of question marks for the Brackley-based outfit to answer.
