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Martin Brundle believes George Russell can respond strongly at the Hungarian Grand Prix after a heavily disrupted opening half of the season left the Mercedes driver 50 points off the championship lead.
Russell began the campaign with significant momentum at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and was subsequently backed as the clear title favourite. Since then, however, a series of setbacks has steadily eroded his position in the standings. Several of those problems were outside his control and linked to Mercedes’ reliability.
The Silver Arrows have been largely dominant, but the team has also encountered power-unit difficulties this season, particularly on the battery side. Russell has suffered issues in China, Japan, Canada, Monaco and Belgium, with each incident costing him a substantial number of points. His latest setback came at Spa-Francorchamps, where an opening-lap retirement further damaged his title prospects.
Mercedes’ work to address the problems will be central to Russell’s response in Hungary, as highlighted by the team’s recent focus on his Spa difficulties. Read more about Mercedes’ efforts to resolve Russell’s issues.
Russell is not the only Mercedes driver to have lost points through reliability problems. Kimi Antonelli has also endured setbacks, but his season has nevertheless produced six victories, compared with Russell’s two. That contrast underlines the scale of the challenge facing Russell inside the team as he attempts to recover ground in the championship.
Speaking to Sky F1, Brundle said the Mercedes cars remain difficult to understand and pointed to Russell’s own description of the challenge: “I think they’re quirky cars to fully understand, and I think it’s George who summed it up best for me when he said it’s like a golfer having to learn a completely new swing.”
Brundle believes Russell’s reduced title position could now remove some of the pressure surrounding his campaign.
“I think he’s got nothing to lose now. Actually, he’s had so much bad luck and been in the wrong place at the wrong time, whatever it is,” Brundle said. “But I think he’ll come back really strongly now, and the team are going to find the issues.”
The former driver also identified Antonelli’s pace and consistency as Russell’s primary remaining challenge.
“The biggest problem he’s got is that Kimi’s so relentlessly fast and consistently fast. That’s what he’s got to work on now, because there’s nothing he can do about the other stuff,” Brundle added.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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