Category: Sports

George Russell couldn't hide his anger over an unaired radio message during the Mexican Grand Prix after suffering a deployment issue.

While Mercedes were ecstatic after Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 F1 World Championship, it was another disappointing race for teammate Russell, who finished a disappointing sixth in Mexico.

The 28-year-old started second on the grid at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but dropped to sixth instantly at the first corner after losing speed on the approach to Turn 1 and couldn't recover from there.

It materialised after the race that Russell suffered a deployment issue off the line in Mexico – similar to the problem he encountered in Belgium earlier this season – and that ultimately cost him ground after receiving a 10-second time penalty for crashing into Isack Hadjar at Turn 6 on the opening lap.

Unaired radio messages that cannot be reproduced due to broadcast rights restrictions have since emerged and revealed how Russell initially pressed Mercedes for answers before opting to keep quiet.

“Mate, what was..? What was that about?," Russell said to race engineer Marcus Dudley, on Lap 1.

The Briton then asked Mercedes to check his car for damage following a collision with Hadjar. “Check front-left. And front wing," he said before being heard complaining about his deployment issue at the start, with team principal Toto Wolff issuing an apology to his driver.

"Mate, how is this..? Impossible! No. Ah. I’m gonna shut the f**k up," Russell continued before Wolff responded: “Sorry, George, for that.”

After the race, a clip circulated on social media of Wolff consoling a tearful Russell, who released a statement on Mercedes behalf addressing what went wrong for him in Mexico and congratulating Antonelli on his title win.

"Firstly, congratulations to Kimi on a thoroughly deserved championship," a statement read. "He has done a fantastic job this season and can be incredibly proud of what he has achieved.

“Unfortunately, it was a very disappointing race on my side. I made a good start and was in a strong position, but then we suffered an issue which caused me to not have full deployment down the straight.

“That cost us a lot of positions and ultimately took us out of contention for a strong result. It’s frustrating to have the race compromised by something outside of my control but that is racing.

“We will reset after this weekend and look to come back stronger in Brazil. We still have a constructors’ championship to win and my full focus is on helping the team achieve that.”

On Monday (November 2), Russell reflected on a year that had begun with title ambitions but has since been marked by reliability issues and inconsistent performances.

The Mercedes star acknowledged that he has struggled to rediscover his best form – currently sitting fourth in the drivers' championship – 130 points behind Antonelli after winning three races all season.

"Now feels like a pretty suitable moment to speak from the heart," Russell wrote on Instagram ahead of the final four races of 2026.

"This season started off exactly how I had hoped but it very quickly unravelled with tough luck and poor performances. It’s been the first proper season of my career where I’ve had more bad days than good.

"Has it been tough to deal with? Yes, very. Has it been tough to pick myself up week in, week out? Yes, very. Confusion at times? Often. All I know is that I’ve given it my all and 2026 was not meant to be my year."

F1 returns to Brazil this weekend as the Sao Paulo Grand Prix takes centre stage from November 6-8.

A former Manchester United academy graduate will return to Old Trafford on Tuesday night, more than a decade after playing alongside the likes of Jesse Lingard and Adnan Januzaj.

Pierluigi Gollini, who spent two years at United between 2012 and 2014, is expected to start for Roma when they come up against Michael Carrick's side in the Champions League.

The 31-year-old is currently Roma's second-choice goalkeeper, but with Mile Svilar still recovering from a broken finger, Gian Piero Gasperini will likely hand Gollini the gloves for Tuesday's game.

It will be a memorable evening for the Italian shot-stopper, who spent two years at United between 2012 and 2014 after joining the youth ranks from Fiorentina as a 17-year-old.

He played under Paul McGuinness at under-18 level before helping Warren Joyce’s side lift the under-21 Premier League title alongside Lingard, Januzaj and Tom Lawrence.

Gollini was offered a new deal but decided against taking up the offer. He joined Italian side Hellas Verona in the summer of 2014.

A few years later, Gollini explained his reasons behind leaving United. "I needed to grow and aim to become a first-choice goalkeeper one day," he told Vavel.

"In Manchester, they offered me another contract, but I thought it was better to return to Italy after three years, to a major club like Verona. I also think the Italian school of goalkeeping is superior."

The goalkeeper spent two years at Verona before returning to England with Aston Villa in 2016. He later joined Atalanta on loan for the 2017-18 season before making the move permanent.

Gollini went on to make over 100 appearances for Atalanta under Gian Piero Gasperini, the manager he currently works under at Roma, and even picked up an Italy cap in 2019.

He also enjoyed loan spells at Tottenham, Fiorentina, Napoli and Genoa between 2021 and 2015 before joining the ranks at the Stadio Olimpico.

“I obviously haven’t played much in recent years, but I see myself in training, my team-mates see me, so obviously football is a world that moves super fast,” Gollini said after last week's game against Cagliari.

“Maybe six months [ago] you don’t play much, you don’t do anything and it seems like you’re dead, right? You’re finished."

He added: “But when you work every day, you know what you’re doing and in any case, even if I haven’t played, I’ve always been in a team, in a high-level environment, with great players, so I’ve always known my value.”

Off the pitch, Pierluigi Gollini has become somewhat of a music sensation, performing under the stage name Gollorius.

Back in 2018, he released a rap single titled Rapper coi guanti (Rapper with Gloves) and donated all of the proceeds to help renovate a football pitch near his hometown.

"I did this because my personal story is the same as loads of children who want to play football, who dream of making it from the streets," he told the Champions Journal.