George Russell has been dominated by Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli in 2026, and Guenther Steiner sees him in a similar situation to what Daniel Ricciardo faced.

The 2026 regulation changes have not favoured Russell, despite multiple people thinking that he would be champion. Antonelli has adapted better to the new rules, and has left everyone behind.

The Italian is on the verge of winning the title in Mexico, having won nine races and finished off the podium just three times this year. Russell has just three wins to his name, and he could slip as low as P5 in the championship.

Give us your podium prediction for the 2026 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix! 🇲🇽

Guenther Steiner sees George Russell in a similar situation that ‘destroyed’ Daniel Ricciardo

The Brit has been off the pace of his teammate for most of the season. At COTA, Russell was 54 seconds behind Antonelli at the chequered flag as he came home a disappointing eighth.

Toto Wolff blamed the W17’s narrow operating window for Russell’s deficit, but Antonelli’s advantage over him is truly alarming. Steiner now thinks he is in a similar situation to Ricciardo and how his career came to an end.

The Aussie had been competitive at Red Bull, but as the team started to shift towards favouring Max Verstappen, he decided to leave and join Renault in 2019. Ricciardo now regrets leaving Red Bull, as his career only went downhill from there.

He departed Renault for McLaren in 2021, but struggled immensely in the car. He was dropped after the 2022 season and could not recover his form when he did return with AlphaTauri and later Racing Bulls – Steiner suggests Russell is in a similar boat.

“I think you hit the nail on the head here,” he said on The Red Flags Podcast. “I think it is more a Daniel Ricciardo situation than Lewis, because Lewis, if you think the last five years in the ground effect car, Mercedes was never the best car, we need to be honest about it.

“Maybe he was not on top of it, but he was also there a long time and maybe at some stage his enthusiasm has gone, and now he regained it with Ferrari, Lewis, not because the regulation changed, because he motivated himself again to do it.

“To pick up on the on the Danny Ric thing, I think that is more the case for me. I hope he can find his way back because Daniel unfortunately didn’t really find his way back because it even got worse for him when he was let go by McLaren at the time, that basically destroyed him.

How would Daniel Ricciardo's F1 career have gone if he had stayed at Red Bull?

Ricciardo left Red Bull to join Renault at the end of his contract in 2018

“I think it’s more like this, but George having people around him which believe in him like Toto, that will help to get him back.

“If George is not coming back next year, maybe already this year, but end of next year, I think if he’s in the same position like now, and it’s not a personal thing, Mercedes will be looking, ‘What do we need to do here to be manufacturer world champion?’

“Because that is what they are here to do and you cannot hold that against them. And if George doesn’t bring the performance, there will be changes. I’m not saying that they are actively working for changes, they give him time, but if it doesn’t happen, they will make changes.”

As Steiner notes, the Brit does have the right support network around him, so he should be able to make improvements into 2027. However, Damon Hill fears Russell may realise Antonelli is unbeatable, and may have to concede being the second driver.