George Russell’s radio message before Kimi Antonelli’s world title win at the Mexico City GP, which wasn’t aired, says a lot.
George Russell was clearly upset about a radio message that didn’t air during the Mexican Grand Prix after he had a problem with his car’s deployment system. While Mercedes were celebrating Kimi Antonelli’s win of the 2026 F1 World Championship, it was a tough day for Russell, who finished sixth in Mexico.
The 28-year-old started in second place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but dropped to sixth right away after losing speed going into Turn 1. He wasn’t able to catch up after that.
It later came out that Russell had a deployment issue off the line, similar to a problem he had in Belgium earlier this year. This, along with a 10-second penalty for crashing into Isack Hadjar at Turn 6 on the first lap, cost him valuable positions.
Some unaired radio messages have now come out, showing Russell asking his team for answers before deciding to hold back. “Mate, what was..? What was that about?” he asked his race engineer Marcus Dudley on lap 1.
He also asked them to check his car for damage after the collision, saying, “Check front-left. And front wing.” He then complained about the deployment issue, and team boss Toto Wolff apologized to him.
Russell said, “Mate, how is this..? Impossible! No. Ah. I’m gonna shut the f**k up,” and Wolff replied, “Sorry, George, for that.”
After the race, a video showed Wolff comforting a tearful Russell. Russell also released a statement on behalf of Mercedes explaining what went wrong for him and congratulating Antonelli on his championship.
“Firstly, congratulations to Kimi on a thoroughly deserved championship,” the statement said. “He’s done a fantastic job this season and can be very proud.
“Sadly, it was a disappointing race for me. I had a good start and was in a strong spot, but then we had a problem that stopped full deployment on the straight.
“That cost us many positions and took me out of contention for a good finish. It’s frustrating to have this happen due to things outside my control, but that’s racing.
“We’ll reset after this weekend and aim to come back stronger in Brazil. We still have the constructors’ championship to fight for, and I’m fully focused on helping the team with that.”
On Monday, November 2, Russell reflected on a season that began with title hopes but turned difficult due to reliability problems and inconsistent results. He admitted he hasn’t quite found his best form, currently sitting fourth in the drivers’ championship and 130 points behind Antonelli after winning three races this year.
“Now feels like a pretty good time to speak honestly,” Russell wrote on Instagram ahead of the final four races of 2026.
“This season started exactly how I wanted but quickly fell apart with tough luck and poor performances. It’s been the first real season where I’ve had more bad days than good.
“Was it hard to deal with? Yes, very. Was it hard to keep going every week? Yes, very. Was I confused sometimes? Often. All I know is I gave it my all and 2026 just wasn’t my year.”
F1 heads to Brazil this weekend for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, happening from November 6-8.