2026 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

[Michelangelo.14]

Fabulous drive from Kimi but still can’t see how George is okay with not being the one to pit under a SC while being the one in front.

[Lasssept]

[SB15]

HE DID THE UNTHINKABLE OH MAMA MIA THIS IS INCREDIBLE

[Rikhart]

F1 2026: The demolition of George Russel.

[Just_a_fan]

Fabulous drive from Kimi but still can’t see how George is okay with not being the one to pit under a SC while being the one in front.

I agree but then the other point to make is that the team called Kimi off him and he couldn't make use of that. Kimi was crawling all over him even when told to hold position.

[basti313]

Fabulous drive from Kimi but still can’t see how George is okay with not being the one to pit under a SC while being the one in front.

I agree but then the other point to make is that the team called Kimi off him and he couldn't make use of that. Kimi was crawling all over him even when told to hold position.

Easy...Kimi would have won also by staying out. They would have just risked the win to Ver.
Rus on the other hand would have lost P2 by pitting.

[Just_a_fan]

Fabulous drive from Kimi but still can’t see how George is okay with not being the one to pit under a SC while being the one in front.

I agree but then the other point to make is that the team called Kimi off him and he couldn't make use of that. Kimi was crawling all over him even when told to hold position.

Easy...Kimi would have won also by staying out. They would have just risked the win to Ver.
Rus on the other hand would have lost P2 by pitting.

Agreed. In this car, Kimi is simply faster than George. George now feeling how Lewis felt under previous rules. Turns out F1 isn't as easy as he thought.

[AR3-GP]

Fabulous drive from Kimi but still can’t see how George is okay with not being the one to pit under a SC while being the one in front.

Antonelli started 19th and was on to the back of Russell before the safety car. What does that say?

Let us stop pretending that Mercedes owe Russell anything today. He was ridiculously slow. He was caught and passed by Verstappen! His lack of pace and getting in Antonelli's way with the yoyo racing jeopardized the race win. Mercedes is not here to play kumbaya with their slower driver. They want to win a championship.

Antonelli and Russell are not on equal footing. Mercedes would be foolish to treat them as such when there is such a gap in talent. This is a billion dollar sport and the goal is to win, not soothe the ego of Russell. If you're teammate catches you from the back of the grid, get out of the way. Toto's still an Austrian, cut from the same cloth as Helmut Marko. He does not have a weak stomach like they do over at Ferrari.

[gearboxtrouble]

Fabulous drive from Kimi but still can’t see how George is okay with not being the one to pit under a SC while being the one in front.

Made no difference at all to the outcome. George lost the race when he failed to clear Max in the opening phase while Kimi went from P19 to P2 by the time George was able to break the 1s lead to the Red Bull. When the VSC happened Max was still in the fight for the win and splitting the strategy by not pitting the car on the hards was logical. Its not like there was a better strategy - the McLarens gained 8s of race time on Max by following George's strategy and it was only the Red Bull's straight line advantage that kept Max on the podium even with his new tires. People need to accept that while George is a good driver, Kimi is already a great one. He's just better all round and is doing to George what Max did to Riccardo at Red Bull. There is a large and growing talent gap - Kimi is only in his 2nd season and his ceiling is going to be even higher.

[SB15]

George is now coming to terms that you need to adapt to win championships just like Lando said and you know what, he's right!

The only person to me who really made Kimi fight for certain wins is Lando.

[AR3-GP]

George is now coming to terms that you need to adapt to win championships just like Lando said and you know what, he's right!

The only person to me who really made Kimi fight for certain wins is Lando.

It's not an adaptation issue. It's a slower driver issue. No amount of "adapting" would put Bottas on the level of Hamilton, likewise it's not going to happen for Russell.

[PlatinumZealot]

Fabulous drive from Kimi but still can’t see how George is okay with not being the one to pit under a SC while being the one in front.

Sounds like he didn't want it.

If he pitted and Kimi won on mediums you wouldn't hear the end of it!

[PlatinumZealot]

Anyway weird feeling. This twenty year old has George covered totally in the race! It's likw George just can't unlock the race pace from this car. If the positions were reversed it would be Kimi scampering off into the Monza sunset and George scrapping for a podium.

[search]

Let us stop pretending that Mercedes owe Russell anything today. He was ridiculously slow. He was caught and passed by Verstappen!

to be fair, I would assume that he was told to save the tires, while Verstappen likely was going to stop again anyway, VSC or not.

Not that he really was fast enough in total, but in the 2nd half of the race, Russell's pace was at least decent, I would say.

[maygun]

Praise to Kimi, but what kind of engine/car they are cooked in the beginning of the season, no engine update, not any recent major aero updates, and still easily winning the race from the back of the grid. Salut to James Allison and his crew!