Russell says poor season will not define his F1 career

George Russell said one difficult Formula One season would not define his career and he still had plenty of time on his side.

The Briton started the campaign as the favourite but has been eclipsed by 20-year-old Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who is set to clinch the title in Mexico City this weekend.

“I’ve probably learned more about myself this year than I would have liked, in all honesty,” Russell said on Thursday, acknowledging that Antonelli, who will be Italy’s first champion in 73 years, had been performing at a higher level.

“But I remind myself I’m 28 years old. I see Lewis (Hamilton) still competing extremely well at 41 and Fernando (Alonso) at 44. Lewis won the majority of his titles in his 30s, and this year is absolutely not going to define my career as a whole.”

Ferrari’s Hamilton is third in the standings, one point behind Russell.

While Antonelli has won 9 of 18 grands prix this season, Russell has 3 to his credit and his season has been characterised by misfortune, with highs one weekend and lows the next.

He said also that his natural driving style had been hampered by “a few factors” involving the new era of power units and higher tyre pressures, especially on the rear of the car.

“It’s not going to break me. If anything, it’s going to make me stronger. I’ve been pretty proud of my resilience and how I’ve bounced back from very tough moments,” he said.

“Through my lowest points of this season, I’ve generally bounced back really, really strong. Then I had another bad race after the good one.

“But I’ve been racing more years of my life than I haven’t, and I’ve had more successful years than relative failures … unfortunately, this year for me has come at maybe the time when I needed it most (to be at the highest level), but it’s by no means the end of my journey. I’ve still got a good 12 to 15 years left in me.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has expressed his confidence in Russell bouncing back, saying the current car did not suit the driver but next year would be a fresh start.

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