McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
George Russell raged at Mercedes in an unbroadcast radio message after retiring from the Belgian Grand Prix, one that has since gone viral.
Russell demanded to know what had happened to the ‘SOC’ (state of charge) on the Kemmel Straight as he lost three positions. As he tried to regain one of those places from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, he was involved in a race-ending collision.
The 28-year-old said the inconsistencies in his power unit were ‘unacceptable this whole weekend’. He says he is losing time to teammate and title rival Kimi Antonelli on the straights through no fault of his own, and the team are investigating.
What is it going to take for George Russell to get back in the title fight?
Photo by Jayce Illman/Getty Images
Mercedes sympathise with George Russell ‘letting off emotion’
Sky Sports reporter Craig Slater contacted Mercedes for a response to Russell’s radio message, and the team took a conciliatory approach.
They see it as an understandably emotional reaction given the damage to his championship bid, as opposed to genuine ‘criticism of the team’. Toto Wolff and co. are keen to emphasise that Russell still has their full backing.
“Just on the subject of the rant, I’ve been in touch with Mercedes about it,” Slater said on the F1 Show. “They certainly view it as George letting off emotion, understandably at a terrible moment for him in the season, rather than criticism of the team.
Let us know your podium prediction for the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix! 🇭🇺
“In no sense does he lack support behind the scenes to put all of this right.”
Russell has slipped 50 points behind Antonelli in the standings with 12 races remaining (pending no further changes to the schedule). He requires the biggest comeback seen under the current points system to win the title from here.
After the race on Sunday, Russell asked Mercedes to give him ‘the same car’ as Antonelli so it becomes, in his eyes, a fair fight.
Antonelli faced the same engine issue as Russell at the season opener in Australia, but hasn’t been hampered since.
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
