Operating window. It’s the only phrase in this story that interests me, and Toto Wolff came up with it. According to him, George Russell struggles when the car leaves its optimal window, and “the car doesn’t suit him”.
That I know. In the sim, a car out of its window means cold tyres, a rear that snaps loose at Pouhon (the fast double left at Spa), and you correcting non-stop. The driver hasn’t unlearned anything. The setup is wrong.
Helmut Marko, a former Red Bull adviser, sees it differently. He said that “Russell is no longer the number one driver” and that he doubts he will get another chance at the title. Wolff replies that Marko is wrong and that George is “not half a second slower, or three tenths slower, than Kimi”.
I ran the test this morning. Same car, two setups: mine, and one that doesn’t suit me, with a nervous rear. Same driver, me. I lose four tenths a lap with the bad one. I didn’t change between nine and ten o’clock. The car did.
The real figures are what they are. Kimi Antonelli has nine wins in 2026, Russell three, Baku included. Antonelli had reliability failures at Barcelona and Silverstone, otherwise it would be more. After Austin, he needs two points in five races. And Russell, who had to finish at least eighth if Kimi won, finished eighth. Exactly. That’s delta management.
Eighth when eighth is asked for. At the post, that’s called following the instruction.
Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen are closing in on Russell in the standings. Me, I say reopen the window before judging the driver. The simulator engineer job exists. I checked. I can send them my setup. In theory.
It’s true, we checked: Nextgen-Auto.
