At the beginning of the 2026 Formula 1 season George Russell was the clear favourite to win the drivers’ championship, but he has now slipped to third place in the standings after a torturous Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

Russell only finished one timed session ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli, qualified five places behind him, and finished outside the points after being hit with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

But even before that point, he was well out of contention for the victory and had even been lapped by Antonelli, who went on to take his fifth consecutive victory of the season.

How George Russell's luckless Monaco GP unravelled as F1 title deficit grows

F1 Monaco GP: Kimi Antonelli takes dominant win in non-score for George Russell

Five quick takeaways from F1's Monaco Grand Prix

“I'm beyond frustration now,” Russell told media including Motorsport.com after the race. “Just struggling to comprehend how on earth this season has panned out in the way it has done. Two weekends in a row, 40 points down the drain.

“Yesterday was a bad day for me and I accept that. But the result of the last two races, I wish I could take some responsibility for the car breaking down in Canada or the penalties today. But it's been completely outside of my control.

“And that is an incredibly difficult pill to swallow. I don't ever really believe in good luck or bad luck.

“But when I look at this season as a whole, you know, leading the race in Canada, break down, could have been on the podium today, zero points. Leading the race in Japan, safety car came out 10 seconds after my pitstop.

“The whole season could look totally different. Now I'm 70 points off the lead.”

George Russell, Mercedes, Lando Norris, McLaren

Even with the latest generation of slightly narrower F1 cars, overtaking in Monaco is incredibly difficult so qualifying is key. Qualifying sixth made Russell’s race all the more challenging before it had even begun.

In his first stint he was bottled up behind the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar, who was struggling for grip and suffering power unit issues. That cost him well over half a minute to the leading group – then, after pitting at the end of lap 31 and successfully undercutting Hadjar, he was stymied by the struggling McLaren of Lando Norris, who was yet to pit.

Norris was also ordered to hold Russell up so team-ate Oscar Piastri could potentially pit and emerge ahead of Russell. Although Norris eventually had to retire his car, by then Russell was over a minute behind Antonelli, and was lapped by him before the safety car was deployed late on. 

Thus the damage was done before Russell inadvertently failed to serve the 5s penalty he had picked up for speeding in the pitlane during his stop.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

The result means Antonelli leads the championship with 156 points, while Lewis Hamilton has moved into second place with 90 points to Russell’s 88.

Such a margin isn’t insurmountable, but Russell recognises something needs to change to make this possible.

“It’s not [too big a gap to close],” he said. “You look at Verstappen last year. “But I need to get myself out of… I don't know how we keep ending up in the same position. Things I need to improve for sure. But I know on clean weekends what I can do.”

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While Kimi Antonelli was taking in the plaudits as he collected his most impressive Formula 1 victory yet, George Russell was left reeling as a horror Monaco Grand Prix caused him to fall to third in the championship.

This leaves him with what is looking like an insurmountable gap to his Mercedes team-mate. Here's how Russell's weekend unravelled.

Qualifying - P6 after struggling with tyre temperatures

“I don't really know what's going on to be honest,” Russell said on Saturday night after seeing Antonelli take pole while he could only manage sixth.

“It's clearly something with my driving that's not helping the car at the moment. The difference is how we're driving has such an impact on the tyres. He's just getting the tyres in a nicer window than me.

“A nicer balance over the course of a lap and the pace is just coming easier for him. I don't know why that is.”

Opening stint - Stuck behind Isack Hadjar

Russell failed to move up significantly at the start, with the field all benefitting from Max Verstappen's stalling on the grid.

That meant Russell was stuck behind Red Bull's Isack Hadjar, who frustrated the Briton with his inferior pace in the RB22, dictated by increased graining on his tyres and engine driveability issues for the fiery Frenchman.

George Russell, Mercedes, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Lap 32 - Russell pits but gets pinged for speeding

With pit strategy the only viable way of passing in Monaco, Mercedes looked to snatch a spot away from Red Bull and Hadjar by letting Russell undercut the Frenchman.

At the end of lap 31 Russell peeled in for a quick stop, but it soon emerged that he was one of several drivers being pulled up for pitlane speeding. Curiously a third of the field was penalised for a similar offence, with an investigation still ongoing on why there were so many marginal infractions.

Russell was then held up by Lando Norris as the McLaren driver tried to help his team-mate build a gap in front. But the world champion soon slowed and peeled into the pits with a battery issue, unleashing Russell while being handed a five-second penalty.

Lap 58 - Russell lapped by Antonelli

Russell lost so much ground in traffic that he faced the ignominy of being lapped by his team-mate. As Antonelli enjoyed an obstacle-free race at the front, the 19-year-old Italian came around to lap Russell on lap 58, with only three cars left on the lead lap at that stage.

Lap 61 - Safety Car

A safety car for Lance Stroll's crashed Aston Martin at the final corner saw a flurry of activity in the pitlane, but while Russell came in, he failed to serve his five-second penalty correctly. This would see his day take a turn for the worse, though he and others did get the chance to unlap themselves.

Lap 73 - Drive-through penalty

After Charles Leclerc crashed in the same place as Stroll on the restart, race control red-flagged the race to patch up a breaking up track at Turn 19. Russell was fourth at the restart, but because he hadn't served his pitlane speeding penalty correctly, the stewards handed him an additional drive-through penalty.

With the field reforming for a standing restart, it was an awful outcome, bumping Russell to the back of the lead pack in 14th. That became 13th after Nico Hulkenberg's time penalty, but it still ensured the Briton would end the day without points.

While Antonelli won his fifth consecutive grand prix, Russell's luckless Monaco outing saw his title deficit balloon from 43 to 68 points, falling to third and two points behind Hamilton.

Five quick takeaways from F1's Monaco Grand Prix

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