- Helmut Marko, the former Red Bull motorsport adviser, said before the United States Grand Prix that George Russell is “no longer the number one driver” at Mercedes, per Motorsport.com.
- Toto Wolff answered in Austin that Marko is “wrong on George” and that Mercedes shares responsibility for the car that does not suit him.
- Russell trails teammate Kimi Antonelli by 123 points, and reserve Frederik Vesti will drive his W17 in first practice in Mexico City on Friday.
From Melbourne Pole to a Rival’s Verdict: Russell’s Season Turns on a Narrow Window
“I doubt whether he’ll ever have another chance at the world title or be given number one status anywhere.”
Helmut Marko said that about George Russell in a German television interview ahead of the United States Grand Prix. The former Red Bull motorsport adviser did not stop at the doubt. “Russell is no longer the number one driver,” Marko said. “Antonelli has quite clearly taken that spot from him. But Russell is one of the top drivers.”
Russell is 28. Kimi Antonelli, the teammate Marko named, is 20. After the race in Austin the gap between them in the drivers’ standings stood at 123 points, Antonelli on 365 and Russell on 242.
Wolff Takes the Question in Austin
Asked about the comments after the race at Circuit of the Americas, Wolff said Marko had got it wrong. “I start with Helmut, I mean, he’s my Austrian, not-so-buddy, but I respect his opinion,” Wolff said. “But I think he’s wrong on George. George has all the ability. I think the car doesn’t suit him.”
Wolff then offered his own reading of the season. “I think that at the beginning of the season, it is maybe difficult to cope with the situation where you’re feeling that this is my year to come, and then we have this wonderkid on the other side that starts to really chip away,” he said. He believes the answer lies in the next car: “a new season, George, if we provide him with a quick car, is absolutely possible.”
The Mercedes team chief also pointed to what Russell did before he reached Formula 1. “He has absolutely what it needs to win a championship,” Wolff said. “So I think it’s a bit too easy to say, let’s forget about all these years where he won in F2 and F3, his rookie years and the European championships back-to-back in karting, that’s still all there.”
The Record Behind the Argument
The record Wolff cites is on the books. Russell was born on 15 February 1998 in King’s Lynn, England. He won the GP3 title in 2017 and the Formula 2 crown in 2018, and Mercedes signed him to its junior program in 2017, when he already had a DTM offer on the table.
His Formula 1 career ran through Williams, where he out-qualified Robert Kubica at all 21 Grands Prix of his rookie season and put the team back on the podium in 2021. He also made a one-off Mercedes appearance at Sakhir in 2020, filling in for Lewis Hamilton. He took his first Grand Prix win in Brazil in 2022 and became the team’s lead driver in 2025 after Hamilton left for Ferrari.
Wolff leans on that history. He called Russell “a champion” who “has won in every category” and said he “merits to be put in the group of the very best ones.” Then he added a reminder of last season: “We saw that last year.”
A Season That Turned
Russell won the Melbourne season opener from pole and was the heavy title favorite at that point. Antonelli put together a run of five consecutive wins. Russell won again in Baku, and a slight upturn followed the summer break.
The Malaysia upgrade changed the direction. After Mercedes introduced the major package, Russell has not qualified higher than sixth or ahead of Antonelli, apart from Singapore sprint qualifying, where he took second and then crashed from the lead. He was on course for third at Sepang until a late engine failure. In Austin he qualified more than four tenths behind Antonelli, who went on to win for the ninth time this season. Russell finished eighth after a five-second penalty on lap one.
The prevailing theory is that the new W17 is faster at its peak but has a much narrower performance window. When the car sits in the sweet spot, Russell is quick. When it does not, he appears all at sea. Russell sits second in the standings with 242 points after 18 Grands Prix and three Grand Prix wins this year. The shortfall shows only in the comparison with his teammate.
Wolff said so directly. “When we land the car in the way that suits him, he’s absolutely fast,” he said. “But when it drops out of that operational window, he struggles more than maybe Kimi.” Then came the line that carries the argument with Marko: “that is on us.”
Six Good Laps, 50 Bad Laps
Wolff described the Austin weekend in plain terms. “George just struggled so much,” he said, adding that the operational window “of the car is so difficult.” In Q2, he said, Russell “was there and thereabouts.” Q3 “didn’t work.” Russell’s own verdict on that qualifying session, Wolff said, was “That goes on me.”
Russell summed up his race as “six good laps, 50 bad laps.” He wanted to understand “why the pace was so bad in the first stint,” and he called the lap-one penalty “a bit ridiculous,” though he said it “was least of my worries after such a bad weekend.” Wolff agreed the penalty did not change the larger story, saying it “doesn’t make any difference to the underlying problem that we need to solve.”
On the car, Russell was direct. “The potential is there, but the window is narrow,” he said. He pointed to Malaysia, where Antonelli “was quickest in FP3 and then we qualified fourth and eighth.” In Austin, he said, both Mercedes drivers were “up there in Q2, and then I was nowhere in Q3 and nowhere” in the race. “I hope that’s an explanation for my lack of pace today, but I need to dig deep with my team.” He added that it is “difficult to understand when you’re so far off.”
Asked whether he has gone backwards in recent weeks, he answered: “A little bit, a little bit. So, I don’t have the answers right now and I need to give it 24 hours to think clearly!”
Wolff does not believe the gap is as wide as the results look. “We just have to work it out with him, how there can be such a difference in driving, in performance,” he said. “George is not half a second or three tenths slower than Kimi. That’s just absolutely not the case.” He then asked the questions Mercedes has to answer: “So, what is it that he doesn’t like? What is it that we need to do in terms of modifying the car, setting it up in a different way for him to go fast?” In his view the pieces are all there: the intelligence, the ability, the determination.
Friday in Mexico City
The next test of the argument comes at the 19th round of the season, the Mexican Grand Prix, scheduled for 30 October to 1 November. Russell will sit out first practice on Friday, and Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti will take his W17.
The change follows the rulebook. Under F1 regulations, every team must enter a rookie driver in four first practice sessions across a season. Vesti has already filled two of them this year, replacing Antonelli in Barcelona and Hungary. Mexico will be his first run in Russell’s car and his third of 2026, which leaves him one more session to complete the quota.
Vesti became a Mercedes reserve in 2024 and joined the team’s junior setup in 2021. He made his Formula 1 practice debut at the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix, and this season he moved up to third driver after Valtteri Bottas left for full-time racing with Cadillac.
Simone Resta, Mercedes deputy technical director, described the job. “This weekend, we’ll have Fred contributing to our development, he’s going to be sitting in George’s car for FP1,” Resta said. He called the session a very important aspect for the team and “the ideal bridge between our performance on track and our virtual world.”
Vesti announced the news himself. “On Friday in Mexico City, I’ll be doing FP1 in George’s W17,” he said. “So, huge thank you to George for letting me drive your car.” His last drive came in Budapest, and the car has changed a lot after that run. “I can’t wait to feel W17 once again.”
What Comes Next for Russell
Five races remain this season, and a fix for Russell’s problems looks unlikely before the year ends. Mercedes is banking on its 2027 car being more suited to both drivers, or on Russell unlocking fresh ways to exploit it.
That puts Russell in an unusual spot for a driver who led the team in 2025 and won the first race of 2026. He said he needed 24 hours to think clearly after Austin, and he now has a Friday session to sit out while a reserve works on the car. Wolff says a new season and a quick car make a title chance for Russell absolutely possible. Marko doubts he will get one. The five races left will show which version of Russell turns up when the W17 sits in its window.
