George Russell admits he doesn't deserve P2 in the 2026 British Grand Prix

Russell had a rollercoaster of a race in Silverstone on Sunday as he struggled all weekend to match his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, who took pole and was on his way to get a potential win had his car not broken down.

Russell, on the other hand, was in the thick of fights with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with P3 being the best he could hope for, but a slow puncture dropped him down the order.

But with Antonelli dropping down the order after his W17 malfunctioned and with Verstappen crashing towards the end, Russell found himself in P3, and with Ferrari pitting Hamilton, he inherited P2, which he kept since the race ended under the Safety Car.

Speaking after the race, Russell said: "After the slow puncture and pitting, then going down to P7, if you told me I was going to come home in second, I would have been like, 'there's no way'.

"I wouldn't have been able to comprehend how those events would have unfolded. I think P3 was probably a deserved result behind Kimi and Charles [Leclerc].

"Obviously I was ahead of Lewis; I was fighting with Max. Max is a tough competitor; I think I would have passed him at one point. Then standing here, P2," he reflected.

However, Russell admitted he still needed to sort out the issues that have been affecting his performance so far; he added: "It is important just to keep on fighting, but the truth is, there's been a lot of things this weekend we don't really understand.

"Straight line speed issues yesterday and on Friday; I think it was better today, but the performance wasn't good enough, and if I'm being brutally honest, I'm not going to fight for a championship if the performances continue like that.

"I'm not coming away from this weekend satisfied. I'll take the result, but I would have been more satisfied leaving Canada when I broke down from the lead than I am today standing P2.

"Just because I probably deserved the win in Canada, and today I didn't deserve to stand where I stood," the Briton concluded.

Russell is now 25 points behind Antonelli in the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers' Championship. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)