George Russell says his driving, not the championship, kept him awake

George Russell says it was not the Drivers’ Championship that kept him awake, but his own performances. With the 2026 Formula 1 season proving a nightmare for him, Russell says he worried that he was not driving at the level he believes he can reach.

The season has also brought mechanical failures, bad luck and a car that does not suit his driving style, the report says. Meanwhile, his 19-year-old team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli is heading towards a possible Drivers’ Championship title. Russell says, however, that the standings were not the source of his anxiety.

“What was keeping me up at night wasn’t really the championship situation; it was more that my performance wasn’t where I wanted it to be,” he said. His main concern was how to return to the level he knows he is capable of. “Look at myself in the mirror,” he said of the approach he chose, rather than pointing the finger at the engineers or the car.

As the United States Grand Prix in Austin approaches, Russell says he has opted for self-reflection. At Thursday’s media day at the Circuit of the Americas, he spoke about the season’s psychological toll. He also considered whether to accept the misfortune and poor performances or try to put things right by focusing on what he can control.

The championship pressure remains around him: Antonelli could mathematically clinch the title in Austin or Mexico City. But Russell says his attention has been on his own struggles. He questioned what he needed from the car and what he should change in his driving; the bad luck, he added, only made matters worse.

The Briton says he intends to continue his career and bounce back from this spell. “You can’t give up when you’re down: you have to bounce back, and come back even stronger,” he concluded, adding that he could be proud of having given it his all.