George Russell has insisted he will keep fighting for the Formula One world championship until it is mathematically gone but while he made an encouraging start to his efforts by going quickest in practice for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix the makeup of said numbers remains somewhat in limbo.
Russell is 81 points behind his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli going into the race in Baku which is taking place on Saturday to avoid clashing with Azerbaijan’s national remembrance day. The Italian has eight victories this season including the past two in a row, coming through to win from 19th on the grid in Monza and then taking the flag in Madrid.
Despite having a mountain to climb Russell has maintained the stoical and determined attitude he has demonstrated all season.
“I’m going to keep fighting at every single race until it’s mathematically impossible,” he said in Baku. “I want to try and win every single race and put it on pole at every single race. That’s my goal and that’s what I’m working towards every single weekend.
“There’s obviously a huge [points] deficit but it’s not even really a consideration right now. I’m in this position because the performance hasn’t been strong enough.”
As things stand nine meetings remain with a potential 233 points still on the table. However with the races that close the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi still under threat of cancellation because of the war in the Middle East, that number may come down. If both races are cancelled it is understood they will be replaced by one round at Imola, reducing the total by 25 points.
F1’s current position is that the races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will go ahead with a final decision now expected in mid October, after the current triple header of races in Baku, Malaysia and Singapore.
Mattia Binotto, the Audi team principal confirmed that this was the latest the sport could leave it for logistical reasons. “As we discussed during the F1 Commission last Monday, mid-October is the last call for such a decision,” he said. “The main challenges are more organisation and logistics.”
After the decision the mathematics will at least be clear. If all nine remaining races take place Antonelli would still take the title if he is 100 points ahead in Mexico or 75 clear in Brazil.
On track Russell opened well in Azerbaijan, quickest in first practice in a session where Antonelli lost half his run time with a hydraulic problem. In the afternoon Mercedes were once more on top, looking ominously quick on the street circuit which is energy-starved and plays to their car’s strengths in energy harvesting and deployment. Russell was quickest again, a full half a second up on Antonelli with their nearest competitor, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, eight-tenths back in third.
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