George Russell admits he was wrong about something at Mercedes he thought would happen ‘every year’

Follow us on Google Discover

Now in his fourth year at the works Mercedes team, George Russell thought he would have progressed a lot further than the four wins and six pole positions he has under his belt with the team.

Despite being the lead driver for Mercedes throughout the entirety of the 2025 season, Russell is among several other drivers on the grid to not have a seat tied down for next year.

Amid interest from other teams on the grid, namely Aston Martin, Russell has no intentions of leaving Mercedes. He has been associated with the Silver Arrows since his addition to the Mercedes Junior Team in 2017.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has highlighted that Russell and Kimi Antonelli are the ‘absolute priority’ for the team next season, so it begs the question of why it is taking the higher-ups so long to tie them down.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 Team from team principal to lineage

George Russell thought he would have had ‘at least’ one title fight after seven seasons in F1

Speaking to Autosport, George Russell shared his dismay at not being involved in a title fight since joining the F1 grid seven years ago.

The 27-year-old was thrust into the seat of a backmarker Williams car for his first few seasons, off the back of consecutive feeder series championship feats in Formula 2 and Formula 3 during 2018 and 2017, respectively.

“I would have hoped by now, seven seasons in, I would have at least had a year of fighting for a championship,” Russell revealed. “When I joined Mercedes, we thought every year would be a championship fight. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way.

“It’s been the same for Charles [Leclerc] as well. Arguably, nobody would have predicted two years ago that McLaren would have made this step. Lando [Norris] did five years with them and had no fights either.

“So, you’ve just got to accept the fact that that is the nature of F1. That’s always been the case.”

READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height

The 2026 F1 regulations could prove to be fruitful for George Russell and Mercedes

Russell may have joined the German constructor too late, with the year prior to his promotion to the works Mercedes team being the last time they were competitive enough to make a bid for both world championships.

Heading into the new 2026 F1 regulations, Russell’s prayers for a title-winning challenger could be answered, with early indications suggesting that Mercedes will have the fastest engine on the grid.

The suggestions were part of the backbone that led to the rumours of Max Verstappen jumping ship from Red Bull to the Brackley-based outfit, with reports indicating concerns about Red Bull Powertrains’ first engine to be developed in-house.

A Mercedes chief has promised Russell that the team’s power unit won’t feature one of the main issues that engineers are concerned about due to the removal of the MGU-H, which negates the effects of turbo lag.