George Russell was the pre-season favourite to win the 2026 title, but Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli currently leads the standings with a 20-point difference.
Russell won the first race in Australia but has since been beaten by his younger team-mate in the following three races.
For the last two races, Russell has not finished on the podium despite being in a car clearly capable of winning.
Though early on in the season, people are now already favouring Antonelli for the title race instead.
The heat of the battle and rising noise around Russell’s performance has caused team boss Toto Wolff and Russell himself to speak out on his performance and title battle.
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Wolff’s comments
Confident that Russell will bounce back in Canada, Wolff believes Russell “won’t leave a stone unturned”, he said to Sky Sports.
“George is a killer. What makes him so good is he never stops fighting or attacking.
“I’ve seen him throughout his career in junior formulas and karting and here (in F1). He’s going for this and won’t leave a stone unturned.”
Wolff ultimately believes that the title fight will continue to heat up with his two drivers battling for the crucial points throughout the season.
Wolff said these comments following a disappointing race for Russell in Miami, which he put down to the fact that Russell has “never been quite at ease on this track, and he never liked the smooth surface.”
Following this, Wolff was very short in ending the conversation about Russell’s performance in Miami: “That’s it. Tick the box. He’s looking forward to Montreal.”
Concluding the conversation, Wolff ended briefly on the title fight by saying there’s little “relevance” to speak about “what would be at the end of the year”.
Russell’s thoughts
Russell insists he’s “not even thinking about it” when asked about the title battle.
Speaking on Antonelli, Russell said: “Clearly he [Antonelli] is in a very good place at the moment and momentum is with him.”
However, George almost dismisses this by stating that he has the experience and has won championships before in junior categories – and that winning a championship ultimately comes down to consistency.
“But, having got enough experience myself in championships I’ve won and how momentum swings throughout the year, and looking at the championship last year, to be honest, I’m not even considering it,” he said.
Russell continued by analysing his own recent performances, stating that while he certainly had the pace in the first three races to win, last time out in Miami, he “absolutely did not have the performance to do that”.
Ultimately, Russell is not looking towards the title fight just yet and just wants “to get back on to the top step of the podium”.
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Geoffrey H. Latayan 
SportJustSport writers 
Simon Wilkes