George Russell's unaired radio message at Mexico City GP ahead of Kimi Antonelli's world title win speaks volumes
George Russell couldn't hide his anger over an unaired radio message during the Mexican Grand Prix after suffering a deployment issue.
While Mercedes were ecstatic after Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 F1 World Championship, it was another disappointing race for teammate Russell, who finished a disappointing sixth in Mexico.
The 28-year-old started second on the grid at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but dropped to sixth instantly at the first corner after losing speed on the approach to Turn 1 and couldn't recover from there.
George Russell rages over Mercedes deployment issue on unaired radio message
It materialised after the race that Russell suffered a deployment issue off the line in Mexico - similar to the problem he encountered in Belgium earlier this season - and that ultimately cost him ground after receiving a 10-second time penalty for crashing into Isack Hadjar at Turn 6 on the opening lap.
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Unaired radio messages that cannot be reproduced due to broadcast rights restrictions have since emerged and revealed how Russell initially pressed Mercedes for answers before opting to keep quiet.
“Mate, what was..? What was that about?," Russell said to race engineer Marcus Dudley, on Lap 1.
The Briton then asked Mercedes to check his car for damage following a collision with Hadjar. “Check front-left. And front wing," he said before being heard complaining about his deployment issue at the start, with team principal Toto Wolff issuing an apology to his driver.
"Mate, how is this..? Impossible! No. Ah. I’m gonna shut the f**k up," Russell continued before Wolff responded: “Sorry, George, for that.”
After the race, a clip circulated on social media of Wolff consoling a tearful Russell, who released a statement on Mercedes behalf addressing what went wrong for him in Mexico and congratulating Antonelli on his title win.
"Firstly, congratulations to Kimi on a thoroughly deserved championship," a statement read. "He has done a fantastic job this season and can be incredibly proud of what he has achieved.
“Unfortunately, it was a very disappointing race on my side. I made a good start and was in a strong position, but then we suffered an issue which caused me to not have full deployment down the straight.
“That cost us a lot of positions and ultimately took us out of contention for a strong result. It’s frustrating to have the race compromised by something outside of my control but that is racing.
“We will reset after this weekend and look to come back stronger in Brazil. We still have a constructors’ championship to win and my full focus is on helping the team achieve that.”
George Russell reflects on difficult 2026 campaign
On Monday (November 2), Russell reflected on a year that had begun with title ambitions but has since been marked by reliability issues and inconsistent performances.
The Mercedes star acknowledged that he has struggled to rediscover his best form - currently sitting fourth in the drivers' championship - 130 points behind Antonelli after winning three races all season.
"Now feels like a pretty suitable moment to speak from the heart," Russell wrote on Instagram ahead of the final four races of 2026.
"This season started off exactly how I had hoped but it very quickly unravelled with tough luck and poor performances. It’s been the first proper season of my career where I’ve had more bad days than good.
"Has it been tough to deal with? Yes, very. Has it been tough to pick myself up week in, week out? Yes, very. Confusion at times? Often. All I know is that I’ve given it my all and 2026 was not meant to be my year."
F1 returns to Brazil this weekend as the Sao Paulo Grand Prix takes centre stage from November 6-8.
Topics: Formula 1, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli
Thomas Griffin
