Mercedes star George Russell on the World Championship battle: “That won’t destroy me”

The gap is huge: Formula 1 World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli travelled to Mexico with a 123-point lead over his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the 20-year-old Italian will be crowned the new world champion on race day.

This is particularly bitter for his team-mate, who was still considered the hot favourite to win the title at the start of the season. How is Russell coping with the fact that he has performed significantly worse than his young team-mate this season? “To be honest, I’ve probably learnt more about myself this year than I’d like,” he explains.

“The highs and lows you experience in sport are immense, and that’s partly because we care so deeply about what we do. But I remind myself that I’m only 28 years old. I look at Lewis Hamilton, who’s still performing extremely well at 41. And the same goes for Fernando Alonso, who’s already 45,” continues the 28-year-old, emphasising: “Lewis won the majority of his titles in his 30s, and this year certainly won’t define my career.”

Highs after low points: George Russell analyses his season

“This won’t break me,” Russell is certain. “If anything, it makes me stronger. I’m quite proud of my resilience and how I’ve been able to bounce back from very difficult moments. After the low points of this season, I’ve generally come back really strongly. Then, after a good race, I’d have a bad one again. Perhaps I need to analyse that again, because I always put in my best performances after my worst races – which might just be a coincidence. But maybe there’s something to it,” muses the eight-time Grand Prix winner.

“But I’ve spent more years of my life racing than not, and I’ve had more successful years than relative failures. I don’t think any sportsman, however great he may be, can perform at the very highest level in every single year of his career. Unfortunately, this is the year I would have needed to be at my very best. But this is by no means the end for me; I’ve still got a good twelve to 15 years ahead of me,” Russell makes clear.

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01.11.2026 - 23:15