Nico Rosberg is convinced that George Russell is currently fueled by a level of "insane motivation" similar to the fire that drove him to overturn his defeats against Lewis Hamilton and clinch the 2016 world championship. Rosberg believes Russell is now desperate to reverse his fortunes against his teammate Kimi Antonelli, who has turned the championship battle into a steep uphill climb for the Briton. At the moment, Russell's aspirations of securing his first drivers' title this season appear increasingly unrealistic.
Antonelli, who has been performing exceptionally well, now enjoys an 81‑point cushion at the summit of the standings. Since his victory at the Australian Grand Prix, the season‑opening race in March, Russell has managed to finish ahead of Antonelli only twice in the ten races where both have completed the full distance. The young Italian has already claimed his seventh and eighth wins of the year during the back‑to‑back events at Monza and Madrid, widening the gap between the two teammates.
After Sunday's race – where Russell crossed the line in fifth place – Rosberg was interviewed by Sky Sports F1 about his own comeback story after being outclassed by Hamilton in 2015 and then seizing the title the following year. "I was driven a lot by the pain," Rosberg recalled. "It was painful to keep losing to Lewis, and that pain created an insane motivation inside me." He went on to draw a parallel with Russell's current situation: "George is in a similar spot now.
He's incredibly motivated to find any possible improvement. He works incredibly hard because I know he never gives up, and he hates being repeatedly beaten by Kimi. He's putting in the effort, but it's a tricky problem because it's hard to pinpoint where his pace has vanished." Russell has been Mercedes' highest‑scoring driver in three of his last four seasons with the team – twice out‑scoring Hamilton in 2022 and 2024, and once alongside rookie Antonelli in 2025. To replicate that success this year, he would need a dramatic reversal of fortunes with nine races still on the calendar.
Rosberg remains confident that Russell's diligent work ethic will eventually produce a breakthrough with the W17 chassis, even though the 28‑year‑old will inevitably question himself during this slump. "I'm very impressed with George's approach because he's a perfectionist and he analyses every aspect of his performance," the former champion said. "He does everything he can, and I admire that.
But it's also painful for him because he doesn't understand why his speed has disappeared. He's always been fast and at least on par with his teammate, and now it feels like that edge has vanished. That creates self‑doubt – 'Am I not good enough? Was I better before and now I'm doing something wrong?' It's a tough mental battle." Fresh from being out‑paced by Antonelli at Monza – despite his teammate starting from a penalised 19th position on the grid and finishing 66 points off the pace – Russell admitted ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix that he would need a measure of luck to keep his title hopes alive.
The deficit ballooned to a season‑high 81 points after a disappointing weekend at the Madring, where a problematic Q3 qualifying session and an early Virtual Safety Car hampered his race. That result left Russell virtually ruling himself out of the drivers' championship on Sunday evening. Looking ahead to the next races, beginning with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 24‑26 September, Russell told F1: "Just keep pushing. It's been a more positive couple of races even though the result today was far from ideal.
The story of the season is that I need to focus on performance, keep helping the team, and take it race by race. We're in a strong position for the constructors' title, but realistically I'm not in the fight for the drivers' championship, so I can concentrate on getting good results each weekend." 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 exactly," Wolff admitted. "You can see the pace he had towards the end when he was closing on Leclerc – he was the fastest on track.
After the tyre changes, that pace disappeared. We have to analyse it because the potential is there, both in the driver and the car. We just need to unlock it." Wolff has no doubt that even if this championship slips away, Russell will bounce back and remain a contender in future title fights.
"When it comes to George, you can have good races, bad races, strong years and weak years, but we're talking about a driver who has already won everything he could have potentially won before," Wolff noted, recalling that he signed Russell to Mercedes' junior programme in 2017. "Every single karting championship, his rookie year in Formula 3, his rookie year in Formula 2, then his move to Williams – he's a top‑level driver. We just need to find out what it takes for him to unleash that potential again. And there’s the psychological side.
If you have a run like his this year, you’re taking a beating. The great drivers recover, and George has everything he needs to fight for championships. Even if this one sails away, there will be more opportunities." The F1 calendar continues with a Saturday race in Baku, as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicks off a triple‑header of events from 24‑26 September.
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