George Russell has never lacked for confidence. In 2018, when trying to land a Formula 1 seat with Williams, he came armed with a PowerPoint presentation to explain why he was the best man for the job.
While impressed, ultimately the team decided he was too young, although they snapped him up the following year after he added the F2 title to his previous GP3 crown.
In recent weeks, that confidence has taken a hefty dent. He was close to tears in a post-race interview in Spa after a collision with Lewis Hamilton put an end to his race and hugely dented his title chances, caused in no small part by issues with his Mercedes.
So lengthy have been the list of calamities that he described himself as “numb to disappointment” in the aftermath.
It had followed an angry rebuke over the team radio: “I’m out. What the f*** happened with the SoC [state of charge] down the straight. I had no f***ing battery down the straight. Guys, un-f***ing-acceptable this whole weekend.”
Russell’s Belgian GP ended early (Photo: Reuters)It felt like he was working through the five stages of grief, as though ready to wave the white flag in surrender to teammate Kimi Antonelli, who appears to have the Midas touch at the wheel of the Mercedes.
A major problem had been that the brightest minds at Mercedes were not entirely clear as to what exactly the problem was which hampered Russell and not Antonelli, although Russell said on Thursday that it has now been pinpointed and remedied back at the factory.
The issue first reared its head at Silverstone, with him losing time down the straights and having issues with his energy deployment. First, a brake issue was identified, supposedly rectified, but that didn’t address it. Then he was also told his driving style was to blame so he adapted that.
That had some impact halving his deficit down the straights at the subsequent race weekend in Spa from eight tenths to four, but on such a tight grid the remaining disparity was still huge.
“I convinced myself that it was something in my driving,” Russell said, hardly showing his usual self-belief before later investigations showed, “there’s a serious issue at play here”. Summing up the whole shambles, he described it as “pretty infuriating”.
The mental impact has clearly been huge and a driver who began the season unable to block out the fanfare that he was the champion elect with the fastest car on the grid. It raises two major questions: 1) Can he believe in his car and 2) Does he believe he can win the drivers’ championship?
Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings with Russell currently third (Photo: Getty)Team principal Toto Wolff talked about giving his 100 per cent backing although it had the whiff of a football chairman getting behind his beleaguered manager.
Off the start line in Spa, Russell was 35 per cent down on power which basically meant when he put his foot down on the throttle he was a sitting duck, swallowed up by the chasing pack and then coming together with Hamilton.
After that collision, Wolff said half of the blame was attributed to the power unit and “the other side maybe on the driving”, with Russell hoping he was referring to Hamilton, who was penalised for his part in the melee.
Wolff conceded Mercedes needed to rectify an engine issue, which has now been done, but tellingly pointed out that was not the sole solution. “That probably accounted for half the gap or probably a little bit more that he had to Kimi.” It was hardly a resounding vote of confidence.
The problem for Russell is that the current issues only explain the Silverstone and Spa shortcomings. There are other explainers too: Shanghai technical issues which dented his qualifying hopes, a safety car in Japan that could not have been more ill-timed, his retirement in Canada through no fault of his own and the mystery of the Monaco pitlane speeding.
Great champions tend to find a way through their problems. Max Verstappen was the perfect example last season with a tricky car for more than half of the season at the very least.
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In contrast, Russell has the quickest car at his disposal which he can’t make work better than his teammate, and the frustration spilled over to peak levels at Spa. Knowing the 2026 title was his to win makes his current position in P3 in the drivers’ standings – behind Hamilton too – even harder to bear.
While he might be 50 points off Antonelli, not all is lost; just look at Verstappen last season, who was 100-plus points off the pace. There are still 12 races remaining and Russell is too intelligent and quick a driver not to find a solution. Mercedes had found one with the engine; Russell now needs to find one to eclipse Antonelli.
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