Motor racing-The great ones recover, Wolff says of Russell after latest beating

Formula One F1 - Spanish Grand Prix - Madring, Madrid, Spain - September 13, 2026 Mercedes' George Russell in action during the race REUTERS/Albert Gea

MADRID, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Mercedes ⁠boss Toto Wolff has assured George Russell he will have the team's full support to unleash ⁠his talent and fight for Formula One championships despite being eclipsed by 20-year-old teammate ‌Kimi Antonelli this season.

Russell, 28, started the campaign as title favourite, but has won just twice to the Italian's eight in the 14 rounds to date.

Still second in the championship, the Briton finished fifth at the new Madrid circuit on Sunday while Antonelli ​celebrated victory in the first Spanish Grand Prix held at Madrid's ⁠new circuit and went 81 points clear ⁠in the standings.

"When it comes to George, you can have good races, bad races. Good years and ⁠bad ‌years. But we're talking about the driver that has won everything that you could have potentially won before," Wolff told reporters at the Madring.

"Every single karting championship, Formula Three in his rookie ⁠year, Formula Two in his rookie year, (he) went into the Williams (team). ​I mean, we're talking about ‌a top driver.

"We need to find out what it is for him to be able to ⁠unleash that potential. ​And of course there's the psychological side," continued the Austrian.

"If you have a run like him this year you're taking a beating but the great ones, they recover and I think that George has all he needs to fight ⁠for championships."

Russell said on Sunday he was no longer realistically ​in the running and was just focusing on getting good results in the remaining races.

It is rare for a driver to win eight races in a season and not take the title but it has happened before, ⁠and sometimes the driver with most wins is not champion. Wolff cautioned that it would only take two blanks on Antonelli's side for Russell to be back in the frame.

That said, he also backed Antonelli to stay focused and take nothing for granted.

"Kimi, from his personality -- he's so grounded, 100% racer, not distracted ​from anything outside, super family situation. And that's why I see no ⁠risk that he's losing the plot because he's so dominant," said the Austrian.

"I promise you that he's not ​thinking about it (the title). The way this kid is able to ‌compartmentalise, and be a young kid and then get ​into the car and be the mature racing driver, if he says to himself 'I'm not thinking about the championship', he's not thinking about the championship."

(Reporting by Alan BaldwinEditing by Christian Radnedge)

Thank you for your report!

一级方程式赛车（F1）——西班牙大奖赛——马德里赛道，西班牙马德里——2026年9月13日，梅赛德斯车队的乔治·拉塞尔在比赛中。路透社/阿尔伯特·吉亚

马德里，9 月 14 日（路透社）——梅赛德斯车队老板托托·沃尔夫向乔治·拉塞尔保证，尽管本赛季他被 20 岁的队友基米·安东内利的光芒所掩盖，但他仍将得到车队的全力支持，以释放他的天赋并为一级方程式锦标赛而战。

28 岁的拉塞尔是本赛季的夺冠热门，但在迄今为止的 14 轮比赛中，他只赢了两场，而意大利人赢了八场。

尽管仍位列锦标赛第二，这位英国车手周日在新马德里赛道上获得第五名，但安东内利在马德里新赛道举行的首届西班牙大奖赛上庆祝胜利，并在积分榜上领先 81 分。

“说到乔治，他有发挥好的时候，也有发挥不好的时候。有好的年份，也有不好的年份。但我们现在谈论的是一位赢得了所有你以前可能赢得的冠军的赛车手，”沃尔夫在马德里赛道告诉记者。

“他参加的每一项卡丁车锦标赛、新秀赛季的三级方程式锦标赛、新秀赛季的二级方程式锦标赛，都加入了威廉姆斯车队。我的意思是，我们谈论的是一位顶尖车手。”

“我们需要找到让他释放这种潜力的条件。当然，还有心理因素，”这位奥地利人继续说道。

“如果你今年的表现像他一样糟糕，你肯定会遭受重创，但伟大的球员都能恢复过来，我认为乔治具备争夺冠军所需的一切条件。”

拉塞尔周日表示，他实际上已经没有机会争夺冠军了，现在只专注于在剩下的比赛中取得好成绩。

车手在一个赛季中赢得八场比赛却最终未能夺冠的情况实属罕见，但并非没有先例，而且有时赢得比赛最多的车手也未必能成为冠军。沃尔夫警告说，只要安东内利再丢两场，拉塞尔就可能重回争冠行列。

尽管如此，他也支持安东内利保持专注，不要掉以轻心。

“从基米的性格来看——他非常脚踏实地，百分之百的赛车手，不会被外界任何事情分心，家庭状况也非常好。正因如此，我看不出他会因为如此强势而迷失方向，”这位奥地利人说道。

“我向你保证，他根本没想过（冠军）。这孩子能很好地将自己和比赛分开，既能保持童真，又能坐进赛车里展现出成熟车手的风范。如果他对自己说‘我没想过冠军’，那他真的就没想过冠军。”

（艾伦·鲍德温报道，克里斯蒂安·拉德内奇编辑）

感谢您的报告！