Russell ‘exhausted’ from constantly picking himself back up

George Russell expressed feeling exhausted from having to constantly overcome setbacks throughout the Formula One season. The Mercedes driver anticipated facing disappointments only "once or twice" but instead found himself dealing with "almost every other weekend" this year. At the Mexico City Grand Prix, Russell started on the front row but his car unexpectedly slowed, resulting in a sixth-place finish.

His teammate Kimi Antonelli, a 20-year-old Italian, secured third place in the same race, marking him as the youngest F1 champion in history.

Russell conveyed his struggle during a press conference ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, a race that could potentially secure Mercedes the 2026 constructors title. He emphasized that the grueling three-week journey away from home, coupled with a particularly poor result like the Mexico City incident, "totally outside of your control" can be extremely difficult.

The driver also highlighted technical issues that had affected him in 14 races, stressing that it would be "naive" to attribute his lack of sustained title challenge solely to bad luck.

Russell affirmed that he doesn't believe the team has let him down, acknowledging that technical difficulties are an inherent part of racing. He questioned whether fans would prefer a reliable car that won fewer races (as in the previous year) or an extremely fast car that has been unreliable this season. Despite being the 2022 F1 season winner, Russell's current car's unreliability has made the 2023 campaign challenging.