Why there’s still hope for Russell as he tries to chase down Antonelli in the title race

George Russell cut Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead from 81 points to 66 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, bringing him back into the title race conversation after he had ruled himself out of it. Can the Briton build on that swing at the Bahrain Grand Prix and beyond, and become a genuine contender once more? F1.com runs through the factors working in his favour…

Plenty of points still to play for

As things stand, there are eight rounds remaining in the 2026 F1 season – including a Sprint weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix.

It means that the maximum overall points score still available is 208, which would be achieved by a driver winning every Grand Prix as well as the Sprint.

Heading to the Sepang International Circuit, Antonelli sits at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings on 302 points, with Russell – as mentioned – 66 adrift on a total of 236.

On paper, this leaves plenty of time and opportunity for Russell to turn the tables with a late-season charge, though the Briton would need to outscore his Italian counterpart by an average of 8.25 points per round (before factoring in victory and other results countback).

An element hanging over Russell is that he looks set to take a grid penalty for new power unit components at one of the final rounds – something Antonelli got out of the way ahead of his stunning P19-P1 charge at Monza.

Russell’s got history at upcoming tracks

With victory in Baku, Russell now has eight Grand Prix wins to his name. Three of those were achieved at tracks still to come on the 2026 schedule, and are regarded as some of his best drives in the sport so far.

In 2022, Russell earned his maiden triumph at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, impressively sustaining late-race pressure from seven-time World Champion team mate Lewis Hamilton, and in 2024, he dominated from start to finish around the streets of Las Vegas.

Then, in 2025, Russell earned redemption at the Singapore Grand Prix (after a painful last-lap crash in 2023) with a particularly satisfying pole position-to-victory performance, after which Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff praised his “formidable” level.

We are, of course, under a different set of regulations, with driver and car form fluctuating across each season, but Russell at least has some good memories to lean into as he approaches this decisive phase of the campaign.

Why Russell “feels like myself again”

On the topic of regulations, Russell has spoken openly about his struggles to get the most out of F1’s new generation of cars, with overhauled aerodynamics, revised power units and various driver-controlled modes all being introduced.

It started so well with pole and victory at the season opener in Australia, but after that, Russell went through periods of confusion and frustration, as well as suffering his fair share of misfortune, all while team mate Antonelli stormed to poles and wins.

Since the summer break, Russell appears to have made some progress, as he pointed to in Azerbaijan, where he took pole position by more than eight tenths of a second, and kept a charging Max Verstappen at bay for his first win since June.

“I’m very proud of the resilience that I and my close group of engineers have shown during the tough periods this year, because there’s been a lot of hard work to overcome some of the challenges, to adapt my driving style to suit this new car better,” said Russell.

“F1 is so tough, you don’t get opportunities to practice this, and finally it’s coming to me a bit more intuitively than it once did, and I’m gaining confidence. Especially on circuits like this, it just allows you to eke out that little bit more on the brakes, and get that little bit closer to the walls, and it’s been a flawless weekend.”

He continued: “I think I never lost that faith in myself. Even through the tough moments, I knew there was a reason why I was off the pace. It wasn’t like I just suddenly forgot how to drive, and I knew I would be able to find it again. I just had to be patient.”

Driving with the pressure off

Antonelli is clearly favourite to seal the 2026 drivers’ title over the remaining sequence of races given his 66-point buffer, which would allow him to take the next two race weekends off and still hold at least an eight-point advantage.

A crash during Q1 in Baku marked one of the youngster’s few mistakes of the season, however, with Russell commenting afterwards that “there’s much less pressure on me than there is him” as the final flyaway events tick by.

Asked how he is approaching the run-in, as the hunter rather than the hunted, Russell replied: “Win every race. I mean, that’s the game plan. My team mate’s had an incredible season, he’s been pretty flawless throughout, but now we’re getting to crunch time.”

He added: “I didn’t really consider myself in this fight for a number of races, purely because my performance wasn’t strong enough. If the season were to have started today, or since the summer break, I feel very much I would have been able to fight.

“Now I’ve got this big deficit. It can change quickly, so I’m not chasing that. I’m chasing to win every race, and what will be, will be.”