George Russell has admitted his 2026 Formula 1 season has been the first of his career with "more bad days than good" in a candid first statement following Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli's world championship triumph.

Russell skipped media duties after Antonelli became F1's youngest world champion at the Mexico City Grand Prix, with team boss Toto Wolff admittIng his driver was "distraught" and suffering a "catastrophic moment".

The Englishman had entered the season as a strong favourite and won the opening race of the year but never recovered from five straight Antonelli victories which followed.

Russell congratulated Antonelli when he got out of the car after Sunday's race and did so again in a social media post on Monday, in which he vowed to rediscover his old form.

"Now feels like a pretty suitable moment to speak from the heart," Russell said.

"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.

"All I know is that I've given it my all and 2026 was not meant to be my year. I want to sincerely congratulate Kimi on what has been an absolutely incredible season. You truly deserve the Championship.

"Thank you to the team for producing the best car and power unit this season; it's been inspiring to see everyone coming together over four tough years to bring Mercedes back to the top.

"Now, all I can promise is that for the rest of this season, and into the next one, I will be giving my absolute all to rediscover the performance I have been capable of producing for the majority of my career and fingers crossed a little bit of luck returns."

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Russell joined Mercedes in 2022, on the back of eight consecutive constructors' championships for the team.

However, his arrival coincided with a rule change and a downturn in fortunes, and the team only won a handful of races until this season. Mercedes entered F1's new era, with engines featuring a near 50-50 split between conventional combustion power and electrical components, as the benchmark team to beat.