George Russell believes he has moved past his earlier struggles and regained the performance levels required to challenge for race victories consistently. After securing his third win of the year in Azerbaijan last weekend—his first triumph in three months—the British driver noted a significant breakthrough in his understanding of the current Mercedes machine. The thing that’s changed is I feel my performances are strong enough to fight for victory week in week out,” Russell said.
With seven or eight races remaining in the season, Russell sits 66 points behind his teammate, championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Despite this significant margin, Russell remains focused on taking each race as it comes. He stated that the primary shift is his ability to compete for the top spot weekly, noting that he no longer feels lost regarding what the car and his own driving require. I know what I need from the car and myself and I don’t really feel lost any more.
Reflecting on his season, Russell explained that he had to consciously adjust his driving style to suit the latest car and engine regulations. What previously required intense cognitive effort has now become intuitive and natural. He is currently aiming to build on this momentum, supported by a new upgrade package that Mercedes is introducing for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Whereas now it’s all just a bit more intuitive and a bit more natural,” Russell said, i went through a few races where I was having to think how to make those adjustments.
While Mercedes expects a stiff challenge from McLaren on the high-speed Sepang layout, the team hopes their technical updates will keep them in the hunt. Antonelli, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back following a challenging weekend in Baku. The Italian driver, who finished fifth after a qualifying crash left him 16th on the grid, acknowledged that he struggled to maintain his usual pace but emphasized the importance of securing a clean result under pressure.
In other garage news, Lewis Hamilton has publicly defended Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, dismissing speculation surrounding his leadership. Following a formal statement of support from Ferrari, Hamilton insisted that Vasseur is the correct person to lead the team. He noted that the squad is in a better position than in previous years and argued that replacing the principal would be detrimental to their ongoing progress.
Hamilton highlighted Ferrari’s growth since their winless 2025 campaign, which saw them finish fourth in the constructors’ standings. Despite currently sitting second in the championship, the team faces a consistent power deficit averaging 0.4 seconds per lap, with some circuits seeing that gap widen to 0.6 seconds. Hamilton expressed confidence that the team has built a strong foundation this year, despite the clear power disadvantage they have been working to rectify for next season. Which is how it has been for most of my career and not how it’s been for most of the season, confidence is back and it’s growing again and it’s all coming a bit more naturally. But there is a third of a season to go and still so much can happen, of course there is a big deficit in the championship.
The seven-time champion emphasized that the team’s current success is the result of a collective effort. He argued that assigning blame to a single individual is counterproductive and that the team must continue to refine their processes to bridge the performance gap to Mercedes and Red Bull.
