The Briton cuts 15 points after his victory in Baku and leaves the margin at 66. He acknowledges that his performance was not enough for months but trusts in his current moment to reverse the situation and fight for the championship.
George Russell has launched a message of optimism after his convincing victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The British Mercedes driver who dominated qualifying with the widest pole of the season and imposed himself in Saturday's race in Baku, has cut 15 points from his disadvantage with respect to his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, who now leads the championship with a 66-point margin, a difference that just a few weeks ago seemed insurmountable but that Russell considers perfectly comeback-able if he maintains his current level of performance.
"There is much less pressure on me than on him, as I said on Friday he has had an incredibly impeccable season. Qualifying was probably his first mistake of the entire season in a real session and even so he finished fifth" Russell declared, acknowledging his rival's merit.
The Briton however does not settle for the role of pursuer: "I didn't really consider myself in this fight for several races, simply because my performance wasn't strong enough, now I feel that if the season had started today or since the summer break, I would have been able to fight. Now I have this big deficit, it can change quickly so I'm not chasing that. I'm chasing winning every race and whatever happens, will happen" he added.
Russell's season has been a roller coaster. It began with strength, achieving pole and victory in Australia and seemed to confirm his status as title favorite, however after China where he won the Sprint, came a streak of four races without podiums including a retirement in Spa and a seventh place in Hungary. The Briton has admitted on several occasions that he is struggling to adapt to the new generation of cars, a problem that his teammate, younger and with a driving style more in line with the W17, has not had.
Despite the difficulties Russell arrives at the final stretch of the season with renewed confidence. His victory in Baku, the third of the year, demonstrates that the Briton has the pace and the ability to compete at the highest level.
The recent history of Formula 1 offers examples of even more improbable comebacks, last season, Oscar Piastri led the championship by 34 points over Lando Norris after the fifteenth round, with Max Verstappen 104 points behind, however Norris ended up taking the title in Abu Dhabi, with a 13-point advantage over his teammate and only two over the Dutchman, a swing of 47 points from Piastri to Norris and 115 points from Piastri to Verstappen.
In that context, the 66 points that separate Russell from Antonelli do not seem so insurmountable, especially if the Briton maintains his current form, the question is whether the pressure will begin to affect the young Italian who in Baku made his first serious mistake of the season by crashing in Q1.
Antonelli knew how to recover with a sensible race and without risks but the margin has been reduced and the fight for the championship is more open than ever, Russell for his part, has clear his objective: to win every race and wait for circumstances to play in his favor; the battle for the 2026 championship promises strong emotions in the remaining events.
