George Russell points to Lewis Hamilton example in F1 2027 recovery bid

George Russell has pointed to Lewis Hamilton’s resurgence in 2026 as evidence that he can bounce back from the challenging campaign he has experienced in Formula 1.

Russell entered the campaign as the favourite to claim the title, but he has taken just two victories since winning the opening race and trails 141 points behind Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who sealed the Drivers’ Championship with four rounds to go.

George Russell vows to bounce back in 2027

And while various technical gremlins have led Russell to claim that he has only completed six trouble-free weekends this season, the Briton has acknowledged that Antonelli has adapted more seamlessly to the all-new cars for 2026 than he has.

However, Russell is not downhearted, citing that it is not uncommon for athletes to go through lean spells in their careers, highlighting that it even happened to Hamilton, the sport’s most successful driver, during their period as teammates from 2022 to 2024.

Russell’s promotion to a works Mercedes seat coincided with a return to ground-effect cars, a formula that proved less compatible with Hamilton’s late-braking driving style.

That culminated in Russell outscoring Hamilton twice in three seasons before the latter’s move to Ferrari in 2025, where his struggles worsened as he went an entire campaign without recording a single podium finish for the first time in his F1 career.

But the seven-time F1 champion has been revitalised since the switch to lighter and more nimble cars this year and leads Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc by 12 points.

“I’ve had a lot more good years than bad years,” Russell said. “I don’t think there’s a single athlete or just individual in the world that [only] goes through great years every single year.

“All of us in this room have good days. We have bad days. We have good years. We have bad years. For different reasons.

“The GOATs (greatest of all time) in sports have years that have been tough for them. We were talking about Lewis before. He’s had so many successful years, but he’s also had tough years.

“And it’s the way you sort of bounce back from those years to continue having the belief and courage to return to those positive ways and that mental resilience. I think that for me is what I have, what this year has taught me. I still believe in myself and believe next year we fight again.”

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Despite being praised for his resilience by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, Russell has conceded that the sheer multitude of problems he has encountered have taken their toll.

“I probably just feel a bit exhausted this season of constantly picking myself back up,” he expressed. “When you get kicked to the ground, you pick yourself back up, then you get kicked down again, you pick yourself back up. And I was hoping to do that maybe twice in the season, not every other weekend, really.

“When you get to a point of this season, you’re away from home for three weeks in a row, and you have another race like what happened in Mexico where a chance of victory, a chance at the podium just disappears totally outside of your control, it’s very tough to deal with.

“We’ll just continue to work on the things that I can control, and pray the things outside of my control sort themselves out.”

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