George Russell holds the keys to F1’s final fight

With Red Bull having already secured their second straight Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship, and Max Verstappen all but guaranteed to put both hands on the Drivers’ Championship this weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix, those looking for F1 drama have one place to turn.

The emerging fight for second between Mercedes and Ferrari.

Just 20 points separate the two teams, with Mercedes currently holding the advantage. But with six races remaining — and three of those being F1 Sprint races such as this weekend in Qatar — there are more than enough points for Mercedes to pull away, Ferrari to overcome the Silver Arrows, or a thrilling fight to the finish.

Which means there are more than enough opportunities for George Russell to make the difference in that fight.

Teammate battles are a part of live in F1, and the contest between Russell and Lewis Hamilton has largely been a one-sided affair, in contrast to the clash between Ferrari teammates Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc.

At Ferrari, Sainz enters the Qatar Grand Prix sitting fifth in the Drivers’ standings, with 150 points on the season. Leclerc is behind him in sixth, just 15 points behind. Over the 16 races held to date, Leclerc has finished ahead of Sainz eight times, and Sainz has finished ahead of Leclerc eight times.

While Sainz has the advantage in wins — he is the only driver other than Verstappen or Sergio Pérez to win a race this season — Leclerc holds the advantage in podium finishes, three to two.

When it comes to qualifying, they are again tied. In eight races Leclerc has started in front of his teammate, while they were flipped in the other eight.

Now we turn to the Silver Arrows. While Russell has the team’s most recent victory, coming last year in Brazil, Hamilton has been the more productive driver this season. The seven-time Drivers’ Champion sits third in the Drivers’ standings with 190 points, while Russell sits in eighth, 75 points behind.

Diving deeper into the results, you see the contrast between the two teams. While Ferrari’s pair has been very balanced this season, Hamilton has enjoyed the clear run of form. He has finished ahead of Russell in 12 of the 16 races this season, has five podium finishes in contrast to the one from Russell, and while qualifying has seen the duo split the results like Ferrari, it is Hamilton who has the team’s only pole position of the season.

That imbalance has even led to some gentle ribbing from Lando Norris and Alexander Albon, two drivers who started in F1 the same time as Russell. The three good friends sat down recently for a “Rookies Reunited” video for F1, and when the discussion turned to how Mercedes was sitting second in the Constructors’ Championship Albon quipped “Yeah, Lewis must be doing such a good job.”

To which Russell could only reply “[y]eah, to be fair, he’s well ahead of me in the Championship this year.”

One cannot help but wonder if that imbalance has played a role in Russell’s mind the past two races. At the Singapore Grand Prix, Russell was in the fight for first along with Sainz, Norris, and Hamilton in the closing laps. Sitting third behind Sainz and Norris, Russell tried to get by the McLaren, only to crash into the barrier, and out of podium position.

“I think we were half a car’s length from winning the race. Had I got past Lando when I had the opportunity, I think we would have been able to get past Carlos,” said Russell following the race.

“Then just the last lap, a millimetre lapse of concentration and game over. So just sorry to the whole team. It was a really challenging race; the tyres were dropping off, and you are pushing the limits. That’s how racing should be: you make a small mistake, and you are bitten for it. It’s heartbreaking after such a great weekend - the car has felt great, qualifying was great, the race was great, we were bold with the strategy.

“I feel like I let myself and the team down. It’s tough, but we will come back.”

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff lamented the loss of points to Ferrari as a result.

“Just a shame for George because he worked hard for that. It could have been a good third and fourth, lots of points, but now we’ve lost 22 against Ferrari,” said Wolff. “It was just an unfortunate moment; he clipped the wall, and it’s a split second of a tiny mistake, and it ends a great race. It’s a shame because he would have deserved [a podium finish].”

Then at Suzuka, some frustrations might have boiled over for Russell. The team employed a strategy split, with Russell trying to make the Japanese Grand Prix a one-stop affair for himself, a tough task given the degradation issues teams often face at Suzuka. Pulling off such a strategy required a lot of maintenance on his part, but early in the race he and Hamilton were battling for position, which led Russell to ask over the radio on Lap 16 “are we fighting each other or the others?”

Then with five laps to go, Russell was fighting to hold on to fifth place, with Hamilton — as well as Sainz — behind him. Russell wanted to keep Hamilton in DRS range so the two could fend off Sainz, a strategy that Sainz deployed to secure victory in Singapore.

Instead Russell was instructed to let Hamilton pass. It led to Sainz overtaking him as well, as Russell could not fend off the Ferrari given the wear on his tyres.

It also led to some on-air frustration for Russell after the race, as he lamented over the radio “if you want to play the team game...he pushed me off the track earlier.”

Following the race, Russell clarified his remarks.

“When you’re in the car and 48 laps in, you’re giving it everything and you’re making a sub-optimal strategy to try and work. That radio is a vent to release some frustration,” explained Russell.

“For me the goal is to secure P2 in the constructors’. On my personal side, the drivers’ championship is totally out of the window. It’s been a complete disaster of a season, so many missed chances. Lewis is in a really good position for P3. Standing here now, it’s all good.”

However, down the stretch Russell has a golden opportunity to deliver for his team, and perhaps deliver that second-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship. First off, he will be racing at tracks where he had success last season. Russell scored points in four of the six remaining races last season — the Qatar Grand Prix was not held last season due to the Men’s World Cup and the Las Vegas Grand Prix is making its debut this November — and he won in Brazil a season ago.

Then there is the nature of some of the upcoming circuits, such as Qatar. Mercedes has enjoyed success at high downforce tracks this season, including Singapore. While Sainz won in Marina Bay, many analysts considered Mercedes to be faster over the course of the weekend. If that trend continues, Russell could also be at an advantage in weeks such as this one.

The battle with Hamilton this season has been largely one-sided. But if Russell can close that gap to his teammate over these final six races, it will go a long way towards delivering that second-place finish to Mercedes.