George Russell is going through a complicated phase in Formula 1, and Nico Rosberg warned about the risk of the Mercedes driver starting to question his own ability. For the former driver of the category and 2016 champion, the current gap to Kimi Antonelli can be especially painful for a driver used to being on the same level as his teammate.
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Russell was considered a favorite for the title, after Mercedes started the current season with the fastest car on the grid. The scenario, however, changed with Antonelli’s performance, who won eight of the first fourteen races, while Russell is 81 points behind his teammate in the drivers’ standings.
Rosberg highlighted that Russell has shown great dedication to try to overcome the difficult period: “I am very impressed with George, because he is really a perfectionist and tries to take care of all aspects of his performance as a human being,” the German told Sky F1.
The former Mercedes driver also mentioned Russell’s efforts off the track. According to Rosberg, the Briton even works on his mental condition and meditates in search of improvement: “I know he is even working on his mental state. He is meditating, doing everything he can, and I really admire that,” he added.
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Despite this preparation, Rosberg considers that the situation may be even more difficult, precisely because Russell cannot understand why he lost ground to Antonelli. The German recalled that the Briton has always been fast, and during his career, has been at least on the same level as his teammates.
“Suddenly, that disappeared, and it is really painful. Because you start to doubt yourself, ‘Am I not good enough?’,” Rosberg explained. He continued, saying that even a confident driver can reach the point of questioning whether they were better before or if they are doing something wrong at the moment, summarizing Russell’s situation as ‘really difficult’.
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