George Russell admits he’s “learned more than I would have liked about myself” this year after a difficult season against Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli; watch every session of the Mexico City GP with Friday’s practice sessions at 6.30pm and 10pm, live on Sky Sports F1 Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player George Russell insists this year’s Formula 1 season “won’t break me” as Kimi Antonelli is set to become world champion this weekend in Mexico. A top nine finish for Antonelli, or Russell or Lewis Hamilton failing to win Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, would secure the title for the Italian, who would be the youngest champion in F1 history at 20 years old. Russell came into 2026 as favourite after dominating Antonelli last year but has won just three races to his team-mate’s nine, regularly being outperformed throughout the season. “I’ve probably learned more about myself this year than I would have liked to in all honesty.
The highs and lows you go through in sport are immense. That’s because we all care so much for what we’re doing,” said Russell. “I remind myself I’m 28 years old. I see Lewis still competing extremely well at 41 and Fernando at 44.
Lewis won the majority of his titles in his 30s. “This year is absolutely not going to define my career as a whole. It’s not going to break me. If anything, it’s going to make me stronger.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Russell pointed to an unusual trend where he’s generally bounced back strongly from poor weekends or misfortune, including an underwhelming race in Madrid where Antonelli won, before a dominant performance on his way to pole and victory at the next race in Baku.
Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari driver says he ‘is built differently’ amid defiance over extending his F1 career into 2030s Mexico City GP 2026: Dates, schedule, weather, UK start time and how to watch or stream F1 race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez live on Sky Sports Kimi Antonelli misses Mexico City GP media day due to viral illness ahead of likely world championship coronation Fernando Alonso doubles down on Alex Albon and F1 field criticism ahead of Mexico City Grand Prix Mexico City GP: Max Verstappen, George Russell, Lando Norris among 10 F1 drivers to miss first practice Kimi Antonelli F1 title permutations: How Mercedes driver can win 2026 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship at Mexico City GP on Sunday “I’ve been pretty proud of my resilience and how I’ve bounced back from very tough moments,” he explained. “Actually through my lowest points of this season, I’ve generally bounced back really, really strong then I had another bad race, after the good one, so maybe it’s something I need to analyse as well because I always perform best after my worst races, which is maybe just a coincidence, maybe there’s something in it. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “I’ve been racing more years of my life than I haven’t. I’ve had more successful years than relative failures, and I don’t think any athlete, no matter how great, has every single year of their career performing at their highest level.
“Unfortunately, this year for me has come at maybe the time when I needed it most. But it’s by no means the end of my journey. I’ve still got a good 12 to 15 years left in me.” Antonelli’s title-winning campaign is a big surprise after his challenging rookie season in 2025 as he has completely turned the tables in the Mercedes head-to-head battle. Russell finished eighth last time out in Austin while Antonelli won and the British driver says “it’s important to find some consistency” and admits his team-mate has been getting more out of the car.
“On a personal level, Kimi is obviously a great guy with lots of energy. We’ve had no reason this year not to continue a good relationship,” he said. “I think a lot of these rivalries start because of on-track incidents or actions. The truth is he’s been at a higher level than me this year, so we’ve not really been in that situation too often.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “We’ve had one or two races, and when it comes to the race itself, we sort of keep ourselves to ourselves and work with our individual engineers to try and get the most out of it.” Antonelli missed Thursday’s media day at the Mexico City Grand Prix due to a viral illness but is expected to be fit enough to drive in Friday’s practice sessions. He told Sky Sports F1 in Austin: “The perfect way would be to finish off in style and enjoy the rest of the season. “I’m very well aware it’s very close but the mindset hasn’t changed. I want to finish the season on a high in order to have high hopes in 2027.
“First we focus and worry about finishing this [season] well and we will see.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Friday October 306pm: Mexico City Grand Prix Practice One (session starts at 6.30pm)*8pm: The F1 Show9pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference9.30pm: Mexico City Grand Prix Practice Two (session starts at 10pm)* Saturday October 315.15pm: Mexico City Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 6.30pm)8pm: Mexico City Grand Prix Qualifying build-up9pm: MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook Sunday November 15pm: F1 Academy Race 36.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP build-up8pm: THE MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX*10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP reaction11pm: Ted’s Notebook *also on Sky Sports Main Event Formula 1 next heads south for the second leg of The Americas triple-header with the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1.
