George Russell is not worried about his team-mate’s growing lead at the top of the drivers’ championship. He points out he has overturned larger points deficits before and believes there is plenty of season left to change the standings.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli leads Russell by 20 points after the first four rounds, but with 482 points still available this season and 33 up for grabs this weekend, Russell says the gap is not decisive.
Since winning the season-opener in Australia more than two months ago, Russell has seen Antonelli win the last three grands prix and move ahead in the standings. Despite that, Russell remains calm.
“It’s just another race and the championship isn’t even in my mind,” Russell said. “I know what I’m capable of and the pace I have. Miami was a bad weekend for me — it was difficult last year too — but then I went to Montreal and had a great weekend. That doesn’t guarantee the same pattern this year, so I focus on myself, stick to my processes like I did in Melbourne and China, and control what I can control.
“There’s really no need to panic. We’ve had four races and there are at least 18 to go.”
Russell recalled his 2018 Formula 2 title campaign, when he recovered from an early deficit to win the championship. He said that experience underlines why a small points gap at this stage means little.
“If I look back to my F2 season, which is the last time I fought for a championship, I was sixth after four races and about 35 points down,” he said. “At this point it means nothing.”
Although Antonelli has beaten Russell to victory in the last three rounds, Russell sees Miami as the only true under-performance so far.
“It’s very circuit-dependent, as it was last year. Everyone has stronger and weaker tracks. Objectively, Miami was the only blip — similar to last year for me — so I hope it’s just one race out of 22. We’ve had a tricky start with some bad luck in China and Japan; the season could look very different if those weekends had gone another way.
“There’s no cause for concern. It’s business as usual and we’ll see what this weekend brings. Once we hit the European season and everyone gets into more of a groove, with double-headers and triple-headers toward the end of the year, things can shift quickly.”
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