Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer has delivered George Russell a brutal message, insisting he is "fortunate" to be so close to Kimi Antonelli in the drivers' title fight.
Ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, Russell finds himself 25 points behind his Mercedes team-mate, meaning he could, in theory, draw level at Spa-Francorchamps.
This is despite Antonelli having won five races compared to Russell's two, with the 19-year-old consistently proving to be the quicker of the pair.
However, Antonelli has also suffered several setbacks beyond his control, including a battery failure in Barcelona and a wheel shield failure at Silverstone. He was running second when both incidents occurred, costing him at least 36 points.
Russell has not shown the same killer instinct as his teenage team-mate so far this season, in what Palmer has described as a similar story to last year's title fight.
Oscar Piastri was dominant, much like Antonelli has been, throughout the first half of last season before stumbling as Lando Norris hit a rich vein of form.
According to Palmer, a similar turnaround cannot be ruled out, but Russell needs to produce more performances like the one that saw him victorious in Australia.
Discussing Russell's title chances, Palmer told the F1 Nation podcast: "Right now, he is fortunate to be only 25 points behind, given his level of performance.
"But the case study is last year: Lando found the pace towards the end of the season, put a run together, and Oscar's form wasn't sustainable. I think that's the threat for Kimi.
"Obviously, he's been unlucky. As a driver, you expect these things to even themselves out over the course of the season, and they already have for Mercedes. If his car keeps breaking down, he might not win the championship, but that's out of his control.
"So, for me, it's just down to Russell finding his feet and producing more of those Melbourne-style performances, where he looks like the George Russell of old again."
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Join RacingNews365's Nick Golding and Samuel Coop as they look ahead to this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix! The significance of Spa-Francorchamps for Ferrari in regard to its title chances is a lead talking point, as is Red Bull's rear wing.
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