George Russell has dismissed any hysteria about his 20-point deficit in the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, but admits to a “weak point” in the dominant Mercedes package.
Russell stopped the rot in Sprint Qualifying for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, taking a dominant pole position, with teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli lining up alongside him, the Italian missing out on top spot by just 0.068s.
With Antonelli having opened up his sizable gap in the title with three wins in four Grands Prix, there might have been a reason to panic for the King’s Lynn man and early title favourite.
But after the session, the Brit exuded his usual sense of calm self-confidence, approaching the race like he would any other.
“It’s just another race for me,” he said. “It’s just another race and it’s not even in my mind, the championship. I know what I’m capable of, I know the speed I’ve got.
“Obviously, Miami was a bad weekend. It was a tough weekend for me there last year and I went to Montreal and had a great weekend.
“Doesn’t mean this year is going to be the same, but I just need to focus on myself, go through my processes as I did in Melbourne, as I did in China, and control what I can control. So, there’s really no need to panic at all.
“And as we said, we’re four races down, 18 at least to go. And I actually look back on my F2 season, which is obviously the last time I fought for a championship, and I was P6 after four races in F2 and about 35 points down. So, at this point it means nothing.”
Mercedes to ‘try hard in the short term’ to solve biggest flaw
Mercedes has undoubtedly been the class of the field so far this year, possessing enough speed in its metaphorical pocket to stay ahead of the competition, despite a number of them catching up.
The German marque has brought a raft of upgrades for the first time this season, with Russell identifying the biggest chink in the armour of the W17.
“Well, obviously the starts are a big focus for us, because that’s clearly our biggest weak point,” he said. “We know, short term, [it] is going to be difficult to make major gains, and we’re obviously trying as hard as we can to solve it short term.
“But there’s also some medium-term items that we need to make changes to and continue to improve. And, of course, race starts, we don’t get to practice very often.
“You can’t practice it on the simulator really. Some races you cannot even practice in free practice the race starts. So, we’ll keep trying our best to improve.”
Russell has been noted for his nous around the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, and will looking to repeat his victory in 2025 to ensure a rediscovery of momentum with Antonelli in scintillating form.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Canadian Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying Results
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