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George Russell says he has “never” experienced a season so unlucky after his disastrous start at the Hungarian Grand Prix due to engine problems.
Russell started Sunday’s race sixth, one place ahead of Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, but his car went into anti-stall so he slowly drifted off the line and into the back of the long run at Turn 1.
He quickly moved through the field to seventh but lost further ground in the title race to championship leader Antonelli, who is 50 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton and 59 ahead of Russell.
“Obviously the issues are happening, but the whole team is feeling it. They’re just as behind the way I’m unfolding it,” said Russell.
“We have to look at ourselves and make sure that we are not doing something wrong that is contributing to these errors. Oscar (Piastri) also had his (gearbox) thing. It’s not that we are the only ones, but it seems that it is happening to me considerably more than others.
“Hopefully it will turn around. I don’t wish bad luck on anyone. But I’ve never had a season like this in my entire career, let alone my F1 career.”
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Watch Oscar Piastre lead Lando Norris as George Russell begins a race to forget at the Hunger Games in Budapest
Russell explained that he was barely on the throttle pedal but the engine was revving too high before the light went out, causing a “terrible start”.
told Sky Sports F1: “I was waiting on the throttle when all of a sudden the engine was spinning all over the place, it was going really high and really low.
“Add that to the list of things that happened in the first half of this year and pray things calm down in the second half.”
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Highlights of the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix
Russell ‘beyond the point of despair’
Both Mercedes drivers have suffered from unreliability issues this season but Russell has been on the wrong end of things recently.
He suffered a battery failure while battling Antonelli for the lead at the Canadian Grand Prix, was one of five drivers wrongly penalized for speeding in Monaco and claimed slower straight-line speed than Antonelli, leading to a race-ending collision at the Belgian Grand Prix earlier this month.
While he admits that “I need to do better at things in my control”, Russell says “there’s a lot out of your control”.
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Check out all of George Russell’s unfortunate moments so far in this 2026 Formula 1 season
“I’m crossing the line of depression right now, because if I’m depressed about everything, I’ll be depressed every day of the week. So I have to stay positive,” he said.
“The pace was very strong. The team said I was as strong as anyone out there, which I probably haven’t been there for three races, so I’ll take the positives there.
“But yeah, the list of things that happened this season is incredible.”
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George Russell and Kimi Antonelli react to seventh and third place finishes respectively at the Hungarian Grand Prix
Russell was forced to change his power unit ahead of Sunday’s race after suffering an engine crack in qualifying, meaning he could face a grid penalty later this year.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: “Given the engine penalty, I still very much hope we don’t need to take it. We have to decide when, when we need to take one and which track.”
The Formula 1 season resumes after the summer break with the sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21-23, with each session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
