Former F1 star turned pundit Ralf Schumacher has claimed George Russell is 'ashamed of himself' after a bruising season at Mercedes.

The British driver entered the 2026 campaign as the title favourite and got off to a great start at the season opener, claiming pole and winning the Australian Grand Prix back in March.

However, from there on out, Russell struggled to extract maximum performance from his car on a consistent basis, with team-mate Kimi Antonelli getting more out of the dominant Mercedes in the early stages of the season and establishing a championship lead that he never gave up.

Antonelli was crowned F1 champion at last weekend's Mexican Grand Prix, while Russell now sits P4 in the championship and could yet finish as low as P5 or P6, depending on how things go over the next four races. Of course, P2 is also still up for grabs.

Antonelli's title celebrations were clearly a hard pill for Russell to swallow, with the Brit choosing not to undertake his post-race media duties in Mexico City, though he did later congratulate Antonelli publicly in a statement on social media.

Ralf Schumacher: George Russell ashamed of himself

Offering a brutally honest analysis of the situation, six-time grand prix winner Schumacher has now stated he believes Russell will not finish P2 in this year's championship.

"George is making too many mistakes, is slower than his teammate, and will probably lose the runner-up title now as well," Schumacher said, via Sky Sports Germany.

"The Mercedes isn't exactly thrilling at the moment; Red Bull and Ferrari are faster."

Schumacher's cutting analysis continued, claiming that Russell is 'ashamed of himself' for how he has performed this year.

"Everything is going wrong for Russell right now," Schumacher added. "He feels so uncomfortable and is ashamed of himself."

Schumacher questions Russell comments

Despite his challenging campaign, Russell is adamant that it will make him, not break him, with plenty of time to put things right. Ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix, he revealed he believes he has 12-15 years left in the sport, but Schumacher isn't so sure.

"Russell now sees his chances slipping away. Where this statement came from that he'll still be driving in Formula 1 in twelve years like Hamilton, I have no idea what possessed him," he said.

"I'm pretty sure he won't be. I also think it's quite presumptuous of him to compare himself to Hamilton. Mexico [where he finished P6] was a disaster for him."