Nico Rosberg is convinced that George Russell is currently fueled by a level of "insane motivation" comparable to the fire he felt when he finally overcame Kimi Antonelli, just as he once did to outpace Lewis Hamilton after a series of defeats. Russell's aspirations of clinching his first world championship this season are dwindling, especially as his in-form Mercedes teammate Antonelli now enjoys an 81‑point cushion at the summit of the drivers' standings.
Since taking victory at the season‑opening Australian Grand Prix in March, the pre‑season favourite Russell has managed to finish ahead of Antonelli only twice in the ten races they have both completed. The British driver has watched the young Italian claim his seventh and eighth wins of the year during the back‑to‑back events at Monza and Madrid.
After Sunday's race, where Russell crossed the line in fifth place, Rosberg was asked by Sky Sports F1 about the mental journey he underwent when he rebounded to win the 2016 title after being soundly beaten by his teammate Hamilton the previous year. "I was driven a lot by the pain," Rosberg recalled. "Subjectively, it was painful to keep losing against Lewis and that just drove an insane motivation." He went on to draw a parallel with Russell's current predicament: "George will be in a similar situation.
He will be so damn motivated at the moment to try and find improvements. He'll be working so hard because I know George doesn't give up and he's hating the situation of getting beaten over and over by Kimi. He'll be working super hard but it's a bit of a difficult one because it's hard to understand where the pace has gone for him." Russell has been Mercedes' top‑scoring driver in three of his last four seasons, twice out‑scoring his teammate Hamilton (2022 and 2024) and once alongside a rookie Antonelli (2025).
Yet with nine races remaining, a dramatic reversal is required if he hopes to repeat that success this year. Rosberg believes the diligent Briton will continue to grind away in search of a breakthrough with the W17, even though the 28‑year‑old is likely questioning his own abilities.
"I'm very impressed with George's approach because he's really a perfectionist and he tries to cover every aspect of his human performance," the former champion said. "I know he's doing everything he can, and I admire that.
But, all the more, it's tough for him because he doesn't understand himself. He's always been fast; he's always been at least level with his teammate and suddenly it's gone away from him there. It's really painful because you start to doubt yourself. It doesn't matter how confident you are, it then comes to questioning 'am I not good enough?
Was I better in the past and I'm just doing something wrong now?' It's really difficult." Fresh from being out‑paced by Antonelli at Monza—despite his teammate starting from a penalised 19th place on the grid and trailing by 66 points—Russell admitted ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend that he would "need some luck" to keep his title hopes alive. The deficit ballooned to a season‑high 81 points after a disappointing weekend in Madrid, where a problematic Q3 and an early Virtual Safety Car hampered his race.
That result left Russell effectively out of the drivers' championship contention. Looking ahead to the upcoming races, beginning with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 24‑26 September, Russell told F1: "Just keep pushing along.
It has been a more positive couple of races even though the result was far from great today. But it's kind of story of the season. I just need to focus on the performance, keep trying to help the team. We're obviously in a great place to win the constructors', realistically I'm not in the fight for the drivers', and that just allows me to focus on race‑by‑race and trying to get some good results." Mercedes remain convinced that Russell can rediscover his peak form.
Team principal Toto Wolff was asked what the British driver is battling most fiercely at the moment. Wolff answered: "I don't know, because you can see the pace he had towards the end when he was catching Leclerc. He was fastest out on track.
But after the tyre changes, the pace wasn't there. I just don't know where it is and we have to analyse it, because clearly it's in him, it's in the car, and we just have to unlock it." Wolff has no doubt that, even if this title slips away, Russell will bounce back and remain a contender in future championship battles. "When it comes to George, you can have good races, bad races, good years and bad years, but we're talking about the driver that has won everything that he could have potentially won before," Wolff said, noting that he signed Russell to Mercedes' junior programme in 2017.
"Every single karting championship, Formula 3 in his rookie year, Formula 2 in his rookie year, went into Williams. I mean, we're talking about a top driver.
We need to find out what is it for him to be able to unleash that potential. And of course, there's the psychological side. If you have a run like him this year, you're taking a beating.
But the great ones, they recover. And George has all he needs to fight for championships. Even if that one has maybe sailed, there will be more." The F1 calendar continues with a triple‑header weekend from 24 to 26 September, featuring the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on a Saturday.
Fans can follow the action live on Sky Sports F1 or stream via NOW, with the flexibility to cancel at any time. The narrative of Russell's season remains one of perseverance, self‑analysis, and the relentless pursuit of speed, even as the championship battle appears increasingly out of reach.