Russell plays down losing P2 to Hamilton or Verstappen in blunt verdict
· Yahoo Sports
George Russell says he won't lose sleep if he loses second place in the drivers’ championship to Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc.
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This weekend will likely see Russell's teammate Antonelli be crowned as the new F1 drivers' champion. Russell, who was the pre-season favourite, is second in the standings, though only nine points separate himself, Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc.
While the Mercedes driver still wants to finish as high as possible, he insists the runner-up position is not the prize he entered Formula 1 to pursue.
“I think for every driver on the grid, there’s only one position that matters, and it’s P1,” Russell said. “To be best of the rest is not really something you dream of as a kid. Of course, I want to finish as high as possible. I want to win as many races as possible. But what’s more important to me is to finish the season on positive momentum rather than necessarily that final order.”
“If I finish second, third, fourth, fifth, I will lose sleep or gain sleep based on the performances as opposed to that,” he added. "As long as it’s not P1, in this sport, it’s kind of that or nothing, really.”
Russell: Antonelli has been on a higher level
Russell finds himself 123 points behind Antonelli in the standings, and in Thursday's press conference, he admitted their lack of rivalry this season could be down to the level of the Italian's performances this season, saying he has been on a "higher level".
“On a personal level, Kimi’s obviously a great guy and lots of energy,” he said. “We’ve had no reason this year not to continue a great relationship. I think a lot of these on-track rivalries start because of on-track incidents or actions, and the truth is he has been at a higher level than me this year. So we've not been in that situation too often, we have had one or two races. And when it comes to the race itself, we sort of keep ourselves to ourselves."