It's over. Well, not mathematically, but don't tell that to George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. After the Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring, both drivers have essentially admitted they're out of the championship fight with Kimi Antonelli. With 81 points now separating Russell from the Ferrari-bound Antonelli, and Hamilton a whopping 101 points adrift after his first DNF of the season, the Mercedes pair have accepted reality. The gap's simply too big to close.

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Russell's race was a masterclass in frustration. Starting on the hards while teammate Hamilton started on mediums, the British driver was called in under the virtual safety car at lap 14 to switch to mediums. It looked clever at the time, but Kimi and everyone else on the softer compounds were planning to pit around lap 15 anyway. The timing couldn't have been worse. Russell had to pit again just 14 laps later and dropped to fifth, unable to recover on a track where overtaking is basically impossible. Even he admits the strategy call was rough, though he reckons the hard tyre was genuinely his best compound. "It's exceptionally unlikely that I'm in this fight," he said afterwards, before adding he's stopped thinking about the championship altogether.

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Hamilton's day was even grimmer. The Ferrari driver suffered mechanical gremlins that led to his first retirement of the entire season. He hit a brake issue mid-race, the pedal going long and short at different points, and after trying to cope he ended up brushing the barrier and eventually had to call it a day. From fourth on the grid, he couldn't recover from the damage, and now he's 101 points down on Antonelli. His verdict? "There's no stopping him and Mercedes this year. They've done a phenomenal job and they deserve it."

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So there you have it. Mercedes has found another level, Antonelli's driving like someone possessed, and the rest of the grid might as well be fighting for podium scraps. With potentially nine races remaining, championship drama appears to be off the menu for 2026.

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