Nico Rosberg is convinced that George Russell is currently fueled by a level of "insane motivation" comparable to the fire that drove him to overturn his defeats to Lewis Hamilton and ultimately claim the 2016 World Championship. Rosberg believes that the same intensity could help Russell reverse his fortunes against his teammate Kimi Antonelli, who has been dominating the championship.
At present, Russell's aspirations of securing his maiden title this season appear increasingly remote. Antonelli, who is enjoying a spectacular year, now enjoys an 81‑point advantage at the summit of the drivers' standings. Since triumphing at the opening Australian Grand Prix in March, Russell – who entered the year as the pre‑season favourite – has managed to finish ahead of Antonelli only twice in the ten races they have both completed. Those two occasions are dwarfed by Antonelli’s seventh and eighth victories, which came on the back‑to‑back events at Monza and Madrid.
Following Sunday's race, where Russell recovered to finish fifth, Rosberg was asked on Sky Sports F1 about his own experience of bouncing back after being soundly beaten by Hamilton the year before his championship win. "I was driven a lot by the pain," Rosberg recalled. "Subjectively, it hurt to keep losing to Lewis and that pain created an insane motivation." He went on to draw a direct parallel with Russell’s situation. "George is in a similar spot now.
He will be incredibly motivated to find any improvement," Rosberg said. "He works incredibly hard because I know he never gives up and he hates being repeatedly out‑performed by Kimi. He will push himself, but it is difficult because he can’t quite pinpoint where his pace has disappeared." Russell has been Mercedes' highest‑scoring driver in three of his last four seasons, securing the top spot twice when paired with Hamilton (2022 and 2024) and once alongside rookie Antonelli in 2025. However, with nine races remaining, he will need a dramatic resurgence to replicate that success this year.
Rosberg praised Russell’s dedication, noting that the Briton approaches his performance like a perfectionist, scrutinising every facet of his physical and mental output. "He does everything he can, and I admire that," the former champion said.
"But it is also painful for him because he doesn’t understand what’s happening. He has always been fast, always at least on par with his teammate, and now that seems to have vanished." The emotional toll is evident.
"It’s really painful because you start to doubt yourself. No matter how confident you are, you begin to wonder, ‘Am I not good enough? Was I better in the past and now I’m doing something wrong?’ It’s a tough place to be," Rosberg added. Fresh from being out‑performed by Antonelli at Monza – despite his teammate starting the race from a penalised 19th position and trailing by 66 points in pace – Russell admitted ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix that he would need a stroke of luck to keep his title hopes alive.
The deficit widened to a season‑high 81 points after a disappointing weekend in Madrid, where a sub‑par Q3 qualifying and an early Virtual Safety Car hampered his race. That result led Russell to effectively rule himself out of the championship battle on Sunday evening. Looking ahead to the upcoming races, starting with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 24‑26 September, Russell told F1 that his focus remains on incremental progress.
"Just keep pushing along. It’s been a more positive couple of races even though the result was far from great today. It’s the story of the season – I just need to focus on performance, keep helping the team. We’re in a great position to win the constructors’ championship, but realistically I’m not in the fight for the drivers’ title, so I’ll concentrate on race‑by‑race and try to get good results," he explained.
Mercedes remains convinced that Russell can rediscover his peak form. Team principal Toto Wolff was asked what Russell is battling hardest at the moment. "I don’t know exactly, because you could see the pace he had towards the end when he was catching Leclerc.
He was the fastest on track. But after the tyre changes, the pace vanished. I just don’t know where it is and we have to analyse it, because clearly it’s in the car and in him, and we have to unlock it," Wolff said.
Wolff is confident that, even if the title slips away, Russell will bounce back and continue to be 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 a driver who has already won everything he could have potentially won before – every karting championship, Formula 3 in his rookie year, Formula 2 in his rookie year, then onto Williams.
We’re talking about a top driver. We need to find out what it takes for him to unleash that potential." He added that the psychological aspect cannot be ignored. "If you have a run like him this year, you’re taking a beating. But the great ones recover.
George has everything he needs to fight for championships. Even if this one sails away, there will be more," Wolff concluded.
The F1 calendar moves forward with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off a triple‑header of races from 24‑26 September, with the Baku event taking place on a Saturday. Fans can follow the live action on Sky Sports F1 via the NOW streaming service, with the flexibility to cancel at any time.