George Russell data springs big Kimi Antonelli surprise despite F1 woes

Despite his struggles across the first half of the 2026 F1 season, George Russell is actually besting Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli in one area.

Russell has a better average finishing position in grands prix than Antonelli - despite Antonelli winning six of the 11 races, finishing second once and two thirds to his name.

In contrast, Russell has two wins, three seconds, two fourths, a seventh, and a 12th from his nine classified finishes, but despite this, he has a better average finishing position than Antonelli, who is 59 points clear in the drivers' championship of the Briton, with Lewis Hamilton sandwiched between the two. 

Antonelli has an average finishing position of 4.09 from the first 11 races, but Russell's is 3.8. 

The reason for this lies in the technical issues and accidents suffered by the pair. 

In terms of Russell, his two DNFs of the season in Canada (technical) and Belgium (collision) meant he was not formally classified in the results and was classed as posting a 'Did Not Finish' (DNF).

For Antonelli, his technical failure in Barcelona came after 90% of the race distance had been completed, meaning he was classified with a 16th-place finish. In the British GP, he was classified in 15th place following his track limits penalty after the wheel shield failure stunted his victory charge.

This means that when calculating the average finishing positions, Antonelli's total includes both Barcelona and Silverstone as they were officially classified positions, whereas for Russell, as his DNFs are not counted as he did not finish that particular race.

Under RacingNews365's system, it means that Antonelli's cumulative total of 45 is divided by the 11 classified results he has had. For Russell, his cumulative total of 35 is divided by his nine classified finishes.

However, as the table below shows, Russell's average of 3.8 is not the best on the grid, with Hamilton enjoying an average finishing position of 3.7 from his 11 classified results. 

This includes one win, two seconds, two thirds, two fourths, two fifths, and two sixths.