Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s closest championship rival is taking no interest in whether he can stop him clinching the crown this weekend.
“It’s nothing to do with me, really,” said George Russell ahead of this weekend’s race in Austin. Russell trails his team mate by 102 points with only 150 available – assuming all the remaining races go ahead, which remains uncertain.Russell won the first race of the season in Australia but quickly fell behind Antonelli who won the next five rounds in a row. While Russell has potentially lost more points to unreliability than his team mate, Antonelli has also out-performed him on many occasions, which has left Russell searching for ways to get more out of his car.
“It has been a very unique season,” he said. “It has been a season where it’s tested my character and resilience a lot, and having to look at myself in the mirror numerous times and think, how do I want to bounce back from these blows? Do I just want to give up and accept the misfortune or the poor performances or do I want to try and rectify it and make the most of it and control everything I can control?
“I can at least be proud of myself that I’ve always put up a fight and I’ve always done my utmost to keep myself in the fight. I’ve got a great team around me and this won’t be my last shot, when I’ve got a car beneath me that can fight for victory.”
Although Antonelli is unlikely to win the championship this weekend, his lead is so great he is virtually assured of the title. Russell said he has come to terms with the likelihood he will not win the championship this year.
“I don’t really have any major feelings running through my body when I say that we’re no longer in the fight this season,” he said, “because I think when I look back earlier in the year, the things that were keeping me up at night weren’t necessarily the facts of the championship, it was more that my performance wasn’t where I wanted it to be.
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“It was like, how am I going to get my performance back to the levels I know I’m capable of? What is it I need from the car, what do I need to change in my driving to get back on top of things? Then obviously with the misfortune that just sort of added salt to the wound.
“But I intend to be here for many, many, many years to come. You can’t give up when you’re being kicked to the floor and you’ve got to bounce back even stronger. I can at least be proud that I’ve given it my all in that regard.”