Nico Rosberg says that George Russell is probably fueled by a level of "insane motivation" similar to the fire that drove him to overturn his defeats to Lewis Hamilton and claim the 2016 world title. At the moment, Russell finds himself in a comparable predicament, trying to claw back against a surging teammate, Kimi Antonelli, who has built an 81‑point advantage and appears to be in a class of his own. Since his triumph at the Australian Grand Prix, the season opener in March, Russell has struggled to keep pace with Antonelli. In the ten races where both drivers have finished, the Briton has only managed to finish ahead of the Italian twice.
Antonelli, the young Italian, has already collected his seventh and eighth victories of the year at the back‑to‑back events in Monza and Madrid, further widening the gap. After Sunday's race, where Russell could only manage fifth place, Sky Sports F1 asked Rosberg to reflect on his own comeback story – how he turned a painful loss to Hamilton in 2015 into a championship win the following year. Rosberg answered that the pain of repeated defeats was a powerful driver.
"It was painful to keep losing to Lewis and that just drove an insane motivation," he recalled. "George is in a similar situation now.
He will be extremely motivated to find any improvement because he hates being beaten over and over by Kimi. He'll be working super hard, but it's hard to understand where his pace has disappeared." Russell has been Mercedes' highest‑scoring driver in three of his last four seasons with the team – twice when he was paired with Hamilton (2022 and 2024) and once alongside rookie Antonelli in 2025. Yet with nine races remaining, he faces a monumental task to reverse his fortunes.
Rosberg believes Russell's meticulous nature will keep him grinding for a breakthrough with the W17, even though the Briton will inevitably start questioning himself. "I'm very impressed with George's approach because he's a perfectionist and he examines every facet of his performance," Rosberg said. "He does everything he can, and I admire that.
But it's also painful because he doesn't understand what's happening. He's always been fast, always been on par with his teammate, and now that seems to have vanished. It leads to self‑doubt – 'Am I not good enough?
Was I better before and now I'm doing something wrong?' That mental battle is tough." Fresh from being out‑performed by Antonelli at Monza – despite Antonelli starting the race from a penalised 19th place on the grid – Russell admitted ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix that he would need a stroke of 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 qualifying and an early Virtual Safety Car hampered his race. The result left Russell virtually out of contention for the drivers' championship. Looking ahead to the upcoming races, starting with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 24‑26 September, Russell told F1 that his focus is 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 fight for the constructors' title, but realistically I'm not in the drivers' fight, so I can concentrate on race‑by‑race results and aim for good finishes." Mercedes remain convinced that Russell can rediscover his peak form. Team principal Toto Wolff was asked what Russell 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 the fastest on track. But after the tyre changes, the pace disappeared. 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 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 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, and then a seat at Williams. He's a top driver.
We need to find out what it takes for him to unleash that potential again. And there's the psychological side – a run like this is a beating. But the great ones recover, and George has everything he needs to fight for championships.
Even if this one sails away, there will be more." The F1 calendar moves forward with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off a triple‑header of races from 24‑26 September, with the Baku race scheduled on a Saturday. Fans can follow the live action on Sky Sports F1, streamed via NOW, with the flexibility to cancel at any time.