In the context of his competition for the Formula 1 title in 2026, George Russell has received advice from former race engineer Rob Smedley. Smedley expressed that Russell needs to stop overthinking his performance to regain his natural ‘flow state’, especially in light of the growing advantage that his teammate at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli, has.
In a recent episode of the High Performance Racing podcast, Smedley discussed the competitive dynamic between the two Mercedes drivers. According to him, Antonelli is in an optimal moment, executing his performances smoothly and without complicating his life. “When Kimi gets in the car, performance is natural; he doesn’t overthink or overextend himself,” Smedley stated.
Moreover, he added that Russell, despite having the necessary abilities to compete at the highest level, needs to clarify his mental approach. “The issue is not whether Kimi is faster or slower; the important thing is that George needs to find a way to organize his thoughts to recover lost ground in the standings,” he commented.
After winning the Australian Grand Prix and the sprint race in China, Russell seemed one of the favorites for the title. However, Antonelli’s excellent performance and some misfortunes have allowed his teammate to extend his lead in the championship standings. Currently, Antonelli leads with 219 points, followed by Lewis Hamilton with 169 points and Russell, who is in third place with 160 points.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
