George Russell says finishing second in the Formula 1 drivers’ championship “doesn’t mean anything” to him as Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc all close in after the United States Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver finished eighth in Austin after being handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while fighting McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
The Briton’s Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli won the race and is now on the verge of the title, but the battle behind him has suddenly become very tight.
Only one point separates second-placed Russell and third-placed Hamilton after the race at the Circuit of the Americas. Verstappen and Leclerc sit fourth and fifth, six and nine points behind Russell.
Asked how important it was to him to hold on to second in the standings, Russell made it clear his focus was on the constructors’ championship.
“For me, as long as we win the constructors’, that’s the main thing,” Russell explained. “For the team, obviously I’d like to finish best of the rest, but P2, P3, P5 is not champion, so it doesn’t mean anything.”
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Russell had opened up about his mentality towards the title fight this season while speaking to the media ahead of the race weekend in Austin, explaining that his view of the championship had been “up and down”.
“I guess in terms of my mentality this season, my view of the championship has been up and down,” he said.
“Early in the year, when I had a big points deficit, the thing that was keeping me up at night was my lack of performance and thinking, ‘How am I going to improve my performance? What do I need from the car? What does the car need from my driving?’ Rather than my opportunity maybe going amiss.
“And then I came from 70 points down to within 25 points post Silverstone and then the gap extended, and then Baku happened. That felt pretty big in terms of my chances again.
“One week later, it sort of kicked down again and salt added to the wound with the grid penalty in Singapore. So, this season just wasn’t meant to be. I’m not bitter about it.
“I’m not. I’ll look back on the areas I could have done better and should have done better as opposed to things that have been out of my control that have gone against me. And I’d say as much has gone against me in terms of bad luck, there’s been as much of my performances that haven’t been to the standard that I know I’m capable of. So, that’s the reality of it.”
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