George Russell has stopped chasing the drivers’ championship. A day after Andrea Kimi Antonelli sliced from 19th on the grid to victory at Monza, the Mercedes number two publicly stepped aside for his teammate.
“It is definitely Kimi who is in control of it and he is deserving to be in control,” Russell told reporters after the Italian Grand Prix.
“I am not even thinking about a fight or a comeback.”
The maths is heavy. Antonelli sits on 267 points to Russell’s 201 after 13 rounds, a 66-point gap built on seven wins to Russell’s two. Ten rounds remain.
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The drive that ended the argument
Antonelli started 19th at his home race after an engine penalty and finished 3.857 seconds clear of Russell, passing his teammate with three laps to run and setting the fastest lap along the way.
Russell acknowledged that a well-timed Virtual Safety Car had helped Antonelli’s pit strategy, but he did not use it as an excuse.
“The VSC came out at that perfect point for the drivers behind to pull the trigger,” he said.
He added that it “takes nothing away from Kimi’s drive.”
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Norris still the closest challenger
Behind the Mercedes pair, Lando Norris sits fourth on 171 points, 96 off the lead. He has no wins yet in 2026 to trade against Antonelli’s seven, but with ten races and a possible sprint haul left the margin is still smaller than the points on offer.
Lewis Hamilton is third for Ferrari on 191, Charles Leclerc fifth on 155, both effectively out.
First race in Madrid since Jarama in 1981
The inaugural Madrid Grand Prix runs 11 to 13 September at Madring, a new 5.416km hybrid layout around the IFEMA exhibition complex. Sunday’s race is scheduled over 57 laps.
It is Formula 1’s first race in the Spanish capital since Jarama in 1981. No driver on the current grid has raced the new track in a Formula 1 car, which pushes simulator work and Friday practice to the front of the weekend, and gives whoever adapts fastest an outside shot at gate-crashing the Mercedes duel.
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“I am sort of accepting that is what it is,” Russell said.
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