George Russell has compared adapting to the new generation of Formula 1 cars to attempting to paint the Mona Lisa at the first attempt, explaining why his established driving style has not consistently worked with the 2026 Mercedes. Although the British driver understands precisely where he is losing performance, translating that knowledge into instinctive actions behind the wheel remains a far more difficult challenge.
George Russell’s second place at Silverstone came as something of a surprise, helped by two fortunate circumstances: Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s off-track excursion and the position George Russell gained during the Safety Car period. It was an unexpected result that compensated for an earlier setback, as a slow puncture had dropped him down the order and appeared to end his hopes of fighting for the podium.
Kimi Antonelli emerges as Mercedes leader
Beyond the final result at Silverstone, a clear trend has emerged at Mercedes. Andrea Kimi Antonelli has established himself as the team’s leading driver through a combination of speed and consistency, the latter being something George Russell has struggled to demonstrate this season.
There have been weekends when George Russell has been competitive, particularly in qualifying, but he has been unable to reproduce that level consistently. His difficulties have often become more apparent during races, especially when tyre management has played a decisive role.
This is one area in which Andrea Kimi Antonelli appears to hold a clear advantage over his Mercedes teammate, and it is no secret that the two drivers have very different styles. The contrast has become increasingly important as teams continue to understand the behaviour of the new cars, power units and narrower tyres introduced for the current technical cycle. The scale of Mercedes’ early preparation was already evident during the 2026 Barcelona shakedown, but adapting the machinery to each driver has proved to be a separate challenge.
When Mercedes introduced a new rear suspension last year, reducing rear-end stability on corner entry, Andrea Kimi Antonelli paid the price for his more aggressive driving style. The ground-effect cars used during the previous technical era were also markedly different from the current machinery, particularly in the feeling and predictability they offered drivers.
New F1 cars require a different approach
The cars from the previous rules cycle gave drivers less freedom to manipulate their behaviour. They were considerably more stable on corner entry, provided they were kept within the correct operating window. However, once the rear of a ground-effect car began to slide, there was often little a driver could do to recover it.
Under the new technical regulations, the rear is more unstable but also communicates its movements more honestly. That might appear contradictory, but it creates a specific problem for a driver like George Russell, whose clean and fluid style has traditionally been particularly effective through fast corners requiring great precision.
The current cars demand a reinterpretation of that established approach. Charles Leclerc has discussed a similar issue, having been required to modify his technique during certain phases of a corner. The major changes made to modern suspension architecture, illustrated by Ferrari’s radically redesigned SF-26 front suspension, demonstrate how different the mechanical demands of the new generation have become.
Changing a driving style is neither simple nor immediate, particularly with narrower tyres that require drivers and engineers to understand an unfamiliar operating window. There is no switch that allows a driver to instantly abandon techniques built up over an entire career. Genuine adaptation requires time and repetition.
On previous occasions, George Russell explained that he had tried to imitate Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s driving style. The experiment did not work for him, prompting the British driver to return to his own methods and focus on finding solutions better suited to his natural approach.
George Russell says Mercedes data provides clear answers
Despite his difficulties, George Russell believes there is one positive aspect to the situation: Mercedes’ data clearly explains why he is sometimes missing performance. He has not experienced a weekend in which the reasons for his pace deficit were completely mysterious.
“The good thing is that I haven’t had a single weekend where I was confused about the pace,” George Russell explained before the Belgian Grand Prix. “It has always been crystal clear in the data. Sometimes it is so obvious that our chief engineer almost describes it as a car problem, because you can see it very clearly in the data and it can be solved.”
“Whereas in the past, with other drivers or some of my former teammates, when the pace was missing, it was more of a head-scratching situation as we tried to understand why. I know exactly why. If I don’t win or I’m not on pole, the data makes the reason and what I need to do to improve very clear. When I am on pole, it is equally clear why.”
The difficulty is therefore not identifying the problem but consistently applying the solution. Last season, George Russell found it easier to place the car within the ideal operating window in terms of balance and driving style. This year, achieving the same result has proved considerably more complicated than expected.
Low-grip conditions expose George Russell’s weaknesses
George Russell has encountered particular difficulties during low-grip weekends, when the circuit does not provide the additional adhesion that can partially conceal certain limitations. In those conditions, the contrast between his approach and Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s becomes even more pronounced.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s driving technique helps stabilise the rear of the Mercedes on corner entry, allowing the Italian driver to gain time during that phase. Reproducing the same effectiveness is difficult for George Russell, especially with the narrower tyres and the need to maintain sufficient rear stability while harvesting energy under braking.
The influence of the new hybrid systems extends far beyond straight-line deployment. As recent 2026 power unit telemetry analysis has demonstrated, regenerative braking and energy recovery are actively reshaping gear selection and driving techniques. Drivers must manage the balance between harvesting energy and preventing instability at the rear axle.
“It isn’t that I forget how to drive one day and remember again the next,” George Russell said. “It is simply a matter of not being able to put the car in the ideal window. Last year, I felt I had a very high percentage of laps in which I managed to extract the full potential of the car, the setup and the tyres together with my engineers.”
“This year, that percentage is much lower. That is exactly what I am working on: making it more consistent.”
Why telemetry alone cannot solve the problem
Finding the correct compromise and adapting quickly remain extremely difficult. Studying telemetry and attempting to learn from a teammate does not necessarily produce an immediate improvement. Certain inputs and movements must become natural before a driver can execute them at the limit without consciously thinking about every action.
The new power units have added another layer of complexity. Lewis Hamilton has described 2026 energy management as extremely complex, with driving techniques and the behaviour of the car now closely connected to battery recovery, deployment and the algorithms governing those systems.
To illustrate why modifying both his driving style and setup requires time, George Russell offered an unusual comparison involving one of the world’s most famous paintings.
“It is as though someone asked you to draw the Mona Lisa while having it in front of you. Do you think you could do it immediately? Maybe you could with practice,” George Russell said. “With these new power units, these new tyres and these new cars, I have to set up the car in a way that does not suit my driving style.”
For George Russell, the task involves learning to drive differently from the way he has competed throughout the rest of his career. Understanding the required technique intellectually is only the first step; executing it at Formula 1 speeds is an entirely separate challenge.
George Russell must undo 20 years of instinct
“I have to drive in a way I have never driven during my entire career, and I have to adapt,” George Russell continued. “I know exactly what I need to do. But then you go out on track and have to achieve it after driving in a certain way for 20 years, when that approach worked for 20 years and now suddenly works 50 per cent of the time, while it does not work for the other 50 per cent.”
“You have to try to understand whether your usual method will work that weekend or whether you need to adapt your approach.”
That uncertainty means George Russell must assess whether his natural style will suit the car and circuit every time he begins a new race weekend. If it will not, he must determine how to modify his inputs without sacrificing the speed that made his established approach successful.
“If I have to adapt my approach, how do I do it? And how do I do it while remaining fast?” George Russell asked. “When I was driving at my best, I was doing it subconsciously, without even thinking about driving. Now you have to think. You have to try to turn these new techniques into subconscious techniques, and that is the challenge.”
“Everyone here is competing at the highest level. That takes us back to the discussion with Charles Leclerc and some of the difficulties he is facing as well. It doesn’t make much sense that we can be so competitive one day and then not competitive the next.”
Charles Leclerc’s early comments about the complexity of the 2026 Formula 1 cars support George Russell’s wider point. Even elite drivers are being required to reconsider deeply established techniques as they learn how to combine new tyres, active aerodynamics, regenerative braking and dramatically revised power units.
Belgian GP offers George Russell another important test
Spa-Francorchamps will provide another revealing examination of George Russell’s progress. The Belgian circuit combines high-speed precision with heavy braking, elevation changes and corners where confidence in the rear of the car is essential. It may therefore expose the same inconsistencies that have prevented him from regularly matching Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Mercedes entered the new regulations with extensive mileage and raised concerns among rivals about its potential advantage, although the FIA played down fears of another period of overwhelming Mercedes dominance. The team’s challenge is now to ensure both drivers can extract that potential consistently.
George Russell believes the solutions are visible in the data, but his Mona Lisa comparison captures the scale of the task. Seeing what must be reproduced is not the same as being able to reproduce it immediately. After two decades of refining a successful natural technique, George Russell must now turn an unfamiliar way of driving into instinct—and do so while competing against the best drivers in the world.
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