Nico Rosberg contends that George Russell is presently fueled by a level of "insane motivation" comparable to the fire that drove him to overturn Lewis Hamilton after a series of defeats. Russell's aspirations of clinching his maiden world championship this season are dwindling, as his teammate Kimi Antonelli has built an 81‑point cushion at the summit of the drivers' standings.
Since his triumph 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 watched the young Italian secure his seventh and eighth victories of the year during the back‑to‑back events at Monza and Madrid. Following Sunday's race, where Russell crossed the line in fifth place, Rosberg was asked by Sky Sports F1 about the mindset that helped him rebound to win the 2016 title after being soundly beaten by 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: "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 super hard because I know George doesn't give up and he's hating the situation of getting beaten over and over by Kimi.
He's working tirelessly, but it's a tricky one because it's hard to understand where his pace has disappeared." Russell has been Mercedes' leading point‑scorer in three of his previous four seasons, twice out‑scoring Hamilton (2022 and 2024) and once alongside rookie Antonelli (2025). Yet with nine races remaining, a dramatic reversal is required for him to repeat that achievement this year. Rosberg believes Russell's diligent nature will keep him searching for a breakthrough with the W17, even as the 28‑year‑old begins to question his own performance.
"I'm very impressed with George's approach because he's 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 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‑performed by Antonelli at Monza—despite his teammate starting from a penalised 19th on the grid and falling 66 points off the pace—Russell admitted ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix 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, hampered by a challenging Q3 and an early Virtual Safety Car that compromised his race.
That result led Russell to effectively rule himself out of the championship contention on Sunday evening. 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 the 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' title, 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 confident that Russell can rediscover his top form.
Team principal Toto Wolff was asked what the Briton is battling most intensely at the moment. "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 explained. Wolff is certain that even if the championship slips away, Russell will bounce back and remain a contender in future title 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," he said, recalling Russell's meteoric rise through the junior ranks.
"Every single karting championship, Formula 3 in his rookie year, Formula 2 in his rookie year, then into Williams. I mean, we're talking about a top driver. We need to find out what it takes for him 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 now moves to a Saturday race in Baku, kicking off a triple‑header from 24‑26 September. Fans can follow the action live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming available via NOW – no contract required, cancel anytime.