George Russell says he is going into this weekend’s race hoping to have a more normal weekend after his disastrous Monaco Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver dropped out of the points when he served a drive-through penalty late in the race for failing to serve another penalty when he made a pit stop. Russell collected a five-second time penalty earlier in the race but did not carry out the penalty when he pitted for a second time under a Safety Car period.

Since Russell won the season-opening race in Melbourne over three months ago his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli has taken victory in every grand prix. Having retired with a battery problem in Canada, Russell has now failed to score in the last two rounds and dropped to third in the championship, 68 points behind his team mate.

Russell admitted he is “just dying to have a smooth weekend” at the Circuit de Catalunya.

“I’m not asking for the world to give me luck,” he said. “I just want neutral luck. That’s how it goes in racing sometimes”

After qualifying in Monaco, Russell admitted he hasn’t been as comfortable in the Mercedes lately as he was at the beginning of the season.

“I’ve had six races [and] in Monaco and Miami, honestly speaking, my performance wasn’t strong enough,” he said. “The other four, I think my performances have been very strong.

“But we’re stood here, I probably could have had three more podiums if things had just gone normally. I didn’t need any good fortune, just normality, that’s where we are.

“There’s nothing I can change, I’m just super focused on my control-ables, what I can do to keep on improving. I’m feeling good, I’m feeling positive. If these things outside of my control continue then they’re going to and if they don’t, then fantastic.”

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2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine