– Although George Russell has had to contend with numerous setbacks in the fight for the Formula 1 World Championship, according to Juan Pablo Montoya, the Mercedes driver will ultimately benefit from exactly these. This is the thesis of the former Grand Prix driver in the post-race show on F1 TV.
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“I personally believe that this [low point] is really something good for him,” Montoya explains after the Belgian Grand Prix. While Kimi Antonelli was able to win the race on the Ardennes rollercoaster, George Russell retired already in the first lap. The gap between the championship leader Antonelli and his teammate is now 50 points.
From Montoya’s point of view, this does not necessarily mean that the more experienced of the two Mercedes drivers will benefit from it this season, “but in the long term [he will].”
F1: Belgian Grand Prix (Spa) 2026
“He is now aware that things have to improve,” is the assessment of the seven-time Grand Prix winner. “At the beginning of the season, he thought that he undoubtedly belonged to the best here and would win the title. You could say that the process he is currently going through is really unpleasant for him.”
Besides the problems in Spa, Russell has not only struggled with the reliability of his Mercedes in recent months. The speed of his younger teammate is also troubling the former top favorite for the world championship.
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DE Light and shadow at Mercedes: Antonelli wins, Russell crashes
“But,” says Montoya, “he is already in a better position. He wants to rebuild himself and knows that there are things he can do better. When you go through something like this, in the end you become a better driver and a much more mature person.”
Furthermore, the two-time Indy 500 champion emphasizes: “Mercedes is really good at helping its drivers, managing them, and taking care of them. You never hear the team blaming the drivers. Other teams love to do exactly that.”
“That’s why I believe,” says the expert, “that George really fits well with Mercedes. After all, he is a team player who is about building the team and getting better.”
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