Trailing team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 123 points, George Russell now faces a genuine threat of losing second place in the drivers' standings. Despite starting the season as the clear favourite, the Briton has been comprehensively outperformed by his Italian team-mate, who is only in his second season. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff cannot hide his surprise. "George, for all of us in the team, is a champion... But when it drops out of that operational window, he struggles, and he struggles more than maybe Kimi," Wolff said. He was adamant that the issue does not lie in Russell's driving ability. "George is not half a second slower, three tenths slower than Kimi. That's just absolutely not the case," he insisted.
The pace has clearly deserted him. After the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Russell sits on 242 points. He holds second place by a single point from Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc six and nine points further back respectively.
