Wolff: Russell ‘Got Down’ Psychologically as Teenage Antonelli Won Everything in Sight
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has let slip an inconvenient truth about championship favourite George Russell — the opening quarter of the 2026 season wasn’t just rough on track, it got to him mentally too. While 19-year-old teammate Kimi Antonelli racked up five consecutive wins to open the year, Russell, tipped as the clear pre-season favourite, struggled to process it. “He gets down and it’s difficult to cope, particularly when you have a 19-year-old coming into the team and it looks so easy,” Wolff explained.
The good news for the Briton is that the picture has shifted dramatically since — his Baku win trimmed the gap to Antonelli to 66 points, with the title fight resuming this Saturday in Sepang. Wolff reckons Russell has already made the mental adjustment needed: “He needs to fight him to beat him. I think he has now settled into this reality of ‘this is going to be really hard because he’s so good.'”
Wolff, for his part, isn’t hiding that he’s managing the dynamic with lessons learned from the Hamilton-Rosberg years — both drivers get identical opportunities, with no team orders tipping the scales either way. “May the best man win,” Wolff summed up his philosophy — a recipe that will either crown a new champion or spark a fresh garage civil war, depending on how Sunday goes.
Source: Sky Sports (https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/13594193/)
