Russell Hopes for Smooth Spanish GP to Close Antonelli Points Gap

George Russell faces the Spanish Grand Prix hoping that his bad streak will come to an end, the Mercedes driver arrives at the Circuit de Catalunya 68 points behind his teammate Kimi Antonelli after six races in which he has only managed to win in Australia. The Italian has strung together five consecutive wins and has opened a gap that is beginning to be worrying for the Briton's aspirations.

Russell analyzed his situation and acknowledged that there are races where his performance was not adequate: "I've had six races, Monaco and Miami, speaking honestly, my performance was not good enough, the other four I think my performances have been very solid" declared the driver, who has also suffered technical problems in China and Canada and bad luck with the safety car in Japan.

The Briton's goal in Barcelona is to regain normality after a start to the season that has been anything but normal: "It's like I said in Monaco, I just want to have a quiet weekend, I'm not asking the world to give me luck, I just want neutral luck, that's how it goes sometimes in racing. I didn't need any good fortune, just normality, that's where we are, there's nothing I can change, I'm super focused on what I can control, on what I can do to keep improving" explained Russell, who believes he could have added three more podiums if things had gone as they should.

The 28 year old driver, who this weekend will contest his 100th race with Mercedes, was optimistic despite the gap in the championship: "I feel good, I feel positive, if these things outside my control continue then they continue, if not, fantastic" he stated, trusting that luck will change sides at the Catalan track.

Asked about his teammate's extraordinary run of form, Russell did not skimp on praise: "I always knew Kimi is an incredible driver, you don't have this career trajectory without being a fantastic driver, so I always knew the fight was going to be tight with him, as it should always be between two great drivers, he's doing a really incredible job right now, so I give him huge credit" declared Russell.

Russell admitted that he has learned from Antonelli despite having more experience in the category: "We definitely have different driving styles, but it's something I saw last year, I think it's important to stick with what works for you, sometimes when you see someone doing a better job on a certain circuit you want to try to emulate it, but maybe it doesn't work for what you need, he's a super incredible driver and he's on an incredible streak right now, I just hope for a clean weekend and to be able to give him the fight back like we did in Canada" he concluded.