With 81 points less than his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, the Briton no longer believes he can fight for the world title, even though he has shown significant improvements in recent races.

George Russell has won just two races this season, compared to the Italian driver's eight. Antonelli's last victory came last weekend at Madring, while Russell was forced to settle for fifth place, also benefiting from Lewis Hamilton's retirement.

A WORLD THAT SEEMED TO BE WON
After the first race of the season in Australia, which Russell won against Kimi, everything seemed to be going in the British driver's favor. Mercedes had found the right direction after the changes to the regulations and Russell finally seemed to have the opportunity he had been looking for since moving to the German team in 2022. After Lewis Hamilton left for Ferrari, he also remained Mercedes' main driver.

REALITY, DIFFERENT
Russell also managed to win in Austria, but in the rest of the races the Briton has finished behind his teammate, with the exception of the British Grand Prix and the Barcelona Grand Prix, where the Italian had problems with his car. The situation is compounded by the fact that Russell has secured only seven podiums this season, while Kimi has 12. The gap between the two Mercedes drivers has gradually widened and Russell's hopes for the title have faded significantly.

Even the statistics are not in the Briton's favor. Russell has only one more retirement than his teammate, but the results outside the podium have significantly affected his points and, consequently, his chances of fighting for the championship. George himself summed up the situation after the race: "There have been some very positive races, although today's result was nothing extraordinary. In a way, that's the story of this season."

objectives
Having ruled himself out of the drivers' title race, Russell will now focus on Mercedes' goal of winning the constructors' championship. That title is looking increasingly close for the German team, which has accumulated 503 points to Ferrari's 310. The Italians had looked the only team capable of challenging Mercedes' dominance this season.

"I just have to focus on my performance and keep trying to help the team. It's clear that we're in a very good position to win the constructors' championship. To be realistic, I'm not in the running for the world championship," Russell said. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc also seem to be gradually moving away from the title fight, both in the drivers' and constructors' championships.

In addition to the difficulty of opposing Mercedes, the situation at Ferrari has been complicated by the rivalry between the two drivers, who have already started to clash with each other. On the other hand, at Red Bull, it seems that everything depends on Max Verstappen, as long as the car does not cause him problems. McLaren, meanwhile, seems to have woken up very late this season, especially with regard to world champion Lando Norris. So Russell has little choice but to continue pushing at the maximum until the end of the season. As Kimi Antonelli stated after the Spanish Grand Prix, despite the large advantage in the standings, in Formula 1 you never know what can happen.