George Russell seems to have given up the title fight against his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Briton took another blow with the young Italian’s victory in Madrid, and as a result, after the Spanish race, he decides to mainly focus on securing the constructors’ championship for Mercedes: “Realistically, I am no longer in the fight for the drivers’ championship,” he even concludes.
Read more Toto Wolff maintains confidence in George Russell: ‘We are talking about a top driver here’
George Russell had to watch in Madrid as his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli took his eighth victory of the season. The Briton was still seen as the title favorite before the Formula 1 year started, but now has an 81-point deficit to the Italian world championship leader. For Russell himself, it is therefore already clear.
“Mercedes is clearly in an excellent position to win the constructors’ championship,” he said after the Spanish GP. “Realistically, I am no longer in the fight for the drivers’ championship, and therefore I can just focus race by race and try to achieve some good results.”
Tire strategy
Also in Madrid, Russell could not make a stand against Kimi Antonelli and finished fifth. During the race, the British driver still doubted Mercedes’ tire strategy – via the radio he indicated he could easily keep Lando Norris behind on his older tires – but later he understood the instruction from his team.
Read more Foreign media are certain: ‘Spanish GP was the celebration of future world champion Antonelli’
“At that moment I did have some doubts, but the hard tire turned out to be the better choice,” he admitted. “Maybe I could have stayed on track with Leclerc, but then I would have still finished behind him. Maybe I shouldn’t have pitted again for hard tires at the end. But whatever I had done, it would have put us back in the same position, simply because you can’t overtake on this circuit, and that’s a shame.”
Read everything about the Azerbaijan GP here
NOW ONLINE: 45 pages Race special GP Spain: our online magazine with news, reactions, analysis, and interview!
Read more Carlos Sainz blames Fernando Alonso after collision Madrid: ‘He caused me a penalty’
