Back
George Russell hopes to follow the Nico Rosberg blueprint to Formula One glory after being humbled by Kimi Antonelli this year. The Italian will be this year's champion, aged 20, and is highly likely to seal his crown in Mexico City this weekend – though he missed his media duties yesterday with a virus. It has been a painful season for Russell who was the pre-season favourite but who has been completely outshone by his junior team-mate. He insists he doesn't care where he finishes now that he knows the title is beyond him, but the Brit still has plenty to fight for going forward.
Nico Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton to the 2016 title having been smashed by his Mercedes team-mate the previous year. The platform for the German's victory was three consecutive victories to round off that 2015 season and Russell hopes to build similar momentum.
He said yesterday: "The truth is, Kimi has been at a higher level than me this year. It's definitely important for me to try to gain some consistency. A couple of races ago we were on pole by eight-tenths and won the race [in Baku], and then last week I finished in P8.
"I've never had a season like this in my career where the performance has fluctuated so much.I know it's in there because you can't deliver performances like that in Baku if you've so-called 'lost it'. It's just we're struggling to have a high hit rate.
"We don't know why that is and as I said, I've never had it personally before in my career. I guess that's probably the priority for me in these last few races."
Whether or not any late-season consistency will be found in Mexico City this weekend remains to be seen. It will be a challenge for everyone on the grid, given the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is by far the highest venue of the season at around 2,200 metres above sea level.
That means the air is thin, engines are down on power because they struggle to get oxygen and also cooling those power units is difficult. The outcome of the weekend may well be decided by which of the top teams deals with those factors best, and Russell is backing Ferrari.
"I think it's going to be very interesting," he said. "I think turbo lag is going to be a big factor for a lot of teams this weekend. There's obviously no secret that the likes of Ferrari have a smaller turbo than most so they probably have quite an advantage in this regard. We're not sure as yet how challenging it will be, but I can definitely foresee it being not straightforward."
Ferrari were strong last weekend in Austin, though it did not translate into victory. They were fastest in all three hours of practice but did not deliver when it mattered in qualifying, and that left them recovering on race day with Charles Leclerc able to reach second place while Lewis Hamilton had to settle for fourth.
Ferrari have not won a race since the British Grand Prix in early July, which remains Leclerc's only victory of 2026 so far. The Monegasque made it clear he wants to change that between now and the end of the year.
He said: "Honestly, I think it's getting very close and we have a good momentum. I think with Singapore and Austin as well, we have maximised our potential and I was relatively happy with the pace we've shown.Whether we are the favourite for this weekend, I don't fully agree. I think Mercedes remains the favourite wherever we go. I think Red Bull are very, very strong as well recently.
"If we maximise everything we have, then I hope that it can be a great weekend for us. As we've seen, I think the optimisation of our package is what eventually will make the most difference. It's so difficult to put everything in the right window coming quality that if we manage to do so, then I think we've got a chance here. But, for that, we've got to be perfect."
Big moments. Packed grandstands. A championship battle that’s heating up.
When the Formula 1 season delivers like this, watching from home just isn’t the same as being there when the lights go out.
With Gullivers Sports Travel, you can experience the most iconic races on the Formula 1 calendar LIVE! Enjoy tickets, handpicked hotels, and seamless travel with one of the UK’s leading sports travel specialists.
Back
Top
| Privacy Statement Terms of Service Contact |
Refresh
|
All the best breaking news stories from Apex Football Lite. Optimised for feature phones and low end Android devices, Apex Football Lite helps users with legacy devices and poor network connectivity access the latest football news and live scores. Particularly relevant for breaking football news in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.