George Russell (Mercedes), 66 points behind: What it will take for a chance at the World Championship

Following Kimi Antonelli’s victory at Monza, George Russell now trails his Mercedes team-mate by 66 points. With ten races and one sprint race officially still to go – though realistically more like nine given the situation in the Middle East – that is a significant gap. A win is worth 25 points, second place 18. Even if Russell were to finish first in every race and Antonelli second in each, Russell would not be able to close the gap on his own.

Russell needs a bit of luck

Ahead of the race weekend in Madrid, Russell said: “I definitely need a bit of luck and some good performances.” However, he added: “I’m not really worrying about it, though. At the moment, he (Antonelli, ed.) is performing better than me. He deserves to lead the World Championship standings. It’s still a long season, but he hasn’t had a single bad weekend so far in terms of performance. He’s performing exceptionally well.”

Russell has improved

Reflecting on his own performance curve, Russell notes positively: “My performance has improved, but if I want to win this World Championship, I’ll also need a bit of luck. I’m just focusing on driving faster and getting more out of it.”

Russell: “I’m working hard on my game and things have improved. I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made. Changing your riding style so fundamentally is doable. But being fast with it is another matter altogether. Since the summer break, I’ve finished ahead of him in three qualifying sessions. My race pace was on a par with his in both races.” He’s counting the sprint qualifying session at Zandvoort, so that’s three qualifying sessions and just one Grand Prix. Russell: “I couldn’t have said that about myself before the summer break.”

Russell will still have to serve an engine penalty this season to bring a fresh power unit into the pool (Antonelli got that out of the way at Monza). However, Russell only intends to take the penalty once Mercedes brings an outdated power unit under the ADUO rules.

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