‘Nothing’s clicking’ – Russell reflects on struggles after tough Monaco Qualifying

George Russell admitted that he is still trying to understand the reasons behind his recent struggles after a tough Qualifying in Monaco, with the Briton conceding that “nothing’s clicking” following a session in which he could not match the pace of team mate Kimi Antonelli.

While Ferrari appeared to have the better of Mercedes on Friday, Antonelli topped the timesheets during Saturday’s final practice session before continuing his strong form into Qualifying, where he secured his fourth career pole position.

Russell, meanwhile, looked less comfortable behind the wheel of the W17 and ended the session in P6, nearly four tenths adrift of Antonelli.

When asked after Qualifying about what had happened – and why he had not been able to make the step forward from Friday as Antonelli had done – Russell responded: “I don’t really know. The last few races, it’s just been so challenging for me just to get the laps together.

“I remember at the first two races of the season, every lap I did, practice or Quali, it was always P1 or P2, and now nothing’s clicking. I’ve got some ideas, but my driving style’s just not working with the car at the moment, so we need to understand it.”

The 28-year-old went on to suggest that his driving style does not appear to be a natural fit for Mercedes’ 2026 challenger, leaving him with some work to do going forward.

“I’m not having a lot of confidence in the car right now,” Russell explained. “I do have some ideas why that is, but I don’t know right now. I don’t know.

“We’ve done some good work to sort of understand some things with my driving style, that I’ve had sort of all my years in Mercedes, and I think this car is not bringing out the best in me.

“So, I need to adjust to it, or make some development changes to help me drive more naturally. I’m sort of scratching my head right now.”