Rob Smedley, former Formula 1 race engineer, has expressed his concern for the mental state of George Russell in his pursuit of the 2026 title. The current Mercedes driver needs to stop overthinking and regain his natural rhythm to get closer to the performances of his teammate, Kimi Antonelli.
In an episode of the podcast High Performance Racing, Smedley analyzed the growing points difference between the two Mercedes drivers and the team dynamic in Brackley. ‘What you need to do is enter a state of flow, which is where Kimi is right now. He is very comfortable, when he gets in the car, he doesn’t overthink and delivers what needs to be delivered,’ Smedley commented.
He also added that overthinking is an obstacle that Russell needs to overcome. ‘There’s no doubt that George can drive a grand prix car. It no longer matters if Kimi is a tenth faster or slower; what matters is that George needs to have a clear mind, because this is where the lap times and the points that count in this world championship are found,’ he emphasized.
After winning the first race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix and the sprint race in China, Russell seemed to be one of the favorites for the title. However, a series of impressive races from his young teammate and a bit of bad luck have allowed Antonelli to extend his lead in the standings.
At the end of the first half of the season, Antonelli leads with 219 points, followed by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton with 169 points and Russell in third place with 160 points.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_23c060e9c1c31f9870f28fdaff9dff83fda31037