‘A dreadful race from start to finish’ – Russell rues ‘odd’ lack of pace in Abu Dhabi

George Russell was left bemused by having “no pace” in his Mercedes W16 during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Briton crossing the line in fifth on a weekend that saw the squad seal P2 in the Teams’ Championship.

Russell had looked to be in the mix at times earlier in the weekend, having set the pace in third practice before again going quickest during Q2 in Qualifying. But after starting from P4 on the grid, the Silver Arrows driver dropped backwards off the line.

Whilst he subsequently managed to get back in front of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc proved uncatchable in fourth and Russell came home in a distant P5, marking a tough day for the Brackley-based outfit as team mate Kimi Antonelli was down the order in P15.

“A dreadful race, start to finish,” Russell conceded afterwards. “We just had no pace – it was a bit odd. I was fifth, which is a result that was much better than the true picture.

“Obviously Kimi being down in 15th is quite abnormal, for us as a team to be that far off.”

Despite a difficult outing at the Yas Marina Circuit, it was enough for Mercedes to be confirmed as runners-up in the Teams’ Championship, having taken second place with an 18-point margin over Red Bull.

And while Russell was glad to secure this, the 27-year-old admitted that he is keen to get the sport’s next era underway as a new wave of regulations come into effect for 2026.

“I think you always want to end on a high, but we had a goal these last couple of race weekends, and that was just to secure P2 in the championship,” Russell explained.

“I think we’re all very glad this era has come to a close, because it’s been a real challenging one for everyone bar McLaren and Red Bull, and we’re excited for a clean slate.”

Russell and the rest of the field will not have long to wait for that fresh start, with the first of three pre-season tests set to take place in Barcelona from January 26-30.