Nico Rosberg says that George Russell is likely being propelled by a fierce, almost "insane" drive to overturn his recent misfortunes against Kimi Antonelli, much as he once harnessed a similar fire to finally outpace Lewis Hamilton after a series of defeats. At present, Russell's aspirations of clinching his inaugural world championship appear increasingly distant, with his in‑form teammate Antonelli having built an 81‑point cushion at the summit of the standings. Since his triumph at the Australian Grand Prix, the season opener in March, Russell – who entered the year as a pre‑season favourite – has managed to finish ahead of Antonelli only twice in the ten races they have both completed.
The Briton has watched the young Italian claim his seventh and eighth victories of the campaign during the back‑to‑back events at Monza and Madrid. Following Sunday's race, where Russell crossed the line in fifth place, Rosberg was interviewed by Sky Sports F1. He was asked to reflect on the mental journey that helped him rebound and secure the 2016 title after being soundly beaten to the crown by his own Mercedes 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 with the team – twice in three‑year battles against Hamilton (2022 and 2024) and once alongside a rookie Antonelli (2025). Yet, with nine races remaining on the calendar, he faces a monumental challenge to reverse the trend and re‑establish himself as a title contender.
Rosberg believes that Russell's diligent nature will keep him grinding for a breakthrough with the W17, even if the British driver is forced to confront his own doubts. "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‑performed by Antonelli at Monza – despite his teammate starting the race 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 dose of luck to keep his championship hopes alive.
That 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. The result left Russell virtually conceding the title on Sunday evening. Looking ahead to the upcoming races, beginning with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 24‑26 September, Russell told the F1 press: "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', 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 the form that made him a multiple race winner. Team principal Toto Wolff was asked what aspect of the car or driver Russell is battling with 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. Despite the current shortfall, Wolff is certain 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, 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, recalling Russell's rapid ascent through the junior ranks after being signed to Mercedes' 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 now moves to a Saturday race in Baku, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off a triple‑header of events from 24 to 26 September. Fans can follow the action live on Sky Sports F1, streamed via NOW, with the flexibility to cancel at any time.