George Russell has insisted he will not let his difficult Formula One season define his career and believes he still has plenty of years left to come back and win the world championship.
Russell has been out-driven by his 20-year-old Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli in what has been a bruising season for the British driver. Antonelli is set to win the title and become F1’s youngest world champion at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix if he finishes in ninth place or above.
He has taken nine wins thus far to Russell’s three, with the British driver struggling for consistency in adapting to the demands of the energy management required by the new cars which, alongside the tyres in use this year, does not suit the 28-year-old’s driving style.
Russell has delivered some impeccable weekends, including commanding performances in Austria and Baku to victory but more often than not has been left baffled as to why he cannot make the car work to the same effect as Antonelli, a process which he conceded had been hard to deal with.
“I’ve probably learned more about myself this year than I would have liked to in all honesty,” he said at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. “You know, the highs and lows you go through in sport are immense and that’s because we all care so much for what we’re doing.
“But I remind myself I’m 28 years old. I see Lewis [Hamilton] still competing extremely well at 41 and Fernando [Alonso] at 45. Lewis won the majority of his titles in his thirties and this year is absolutely not going to define my career as a whole.”
Russell has suffered with no little bad luck this season but has offered praise to Antonelli, admitting the Italian has been the better driver and is thoroughly deserving of taking his first title in only his second season in F1.
The British driver had opened the season strongly with a win at the Australian GP but was then battered as Antonelli took five wins in a row and the lead of the championship which he has not relinquished since. However Russell maintained he would learn from the experience to return stronger in 2027.
“It’s not going to break me, if anything, it’s going to make me stronger,” he said. “I’ve been pretty proud of my resilience and how I’ve sort of bounced back from very tough moments.
“Through my lowest points of this season, I’ve generally bounced back really, really strong and then I had another bad race after the good one. So, maybe it’s something I need to analyse as well because I always perform best after my worst races. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, maybe there’s something in it.
“I don’t think any athlete, no matter how great, has every single year of their career performing at their highest level. Unfortunately, this year for me has come at maybe the time when I needed it most. By no means the end of my journey, I have still got a good 12 to 15 years left in me.”
Russell is in a tight battle for second place in the championship, just one point ahead of Hamilton and six in front of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Antonelli did not take part in media duties on Thursday as the team stated he was unwell with a “viral illness”. He was given leave by the FIA to not take part as the team noted as “a precaution to give him the chance to rest ahead of the weekend”. He is expected to be in the car for free practice on Friday.
The Cadillac team also withdrew Valtteri Bottas from his media duties on Thursday in Mexico, noting that he was “unwell” and subsequently that “the team has taken the decision to allow him a day of rest, to support his recovery”.
