George Russell delivers 'no momentum' verdict after recent painful ordeals

George Russell insists there is "no momentum to be carried" into the Miami Grand Prix, as there is now a five-week break beforehand.

The Mercedes driver has endured crucial misfortune over the past two rounds of the F1 championship, which has left him trailing Kimi Antonelli by nine points in the drivers' standings.

In China, an issue at the start of Q3 left him on the back foot. Whilst he was able to get his initially stranded W17 back to the pits, he could only complete one timed run.

That left the door open for his team-mate, who clinched the first grand prix pole position of his young career, which set the Italian up for a maiden victory at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Then, at Suzuka, although Russell was a shade slower than Antonelli for most of the weekend, bad luck surrounding the safety car turned his Japanese Grand Prix on its head, with the 19-year-old again the beneficiary.

The six-time grand prix winner was ahead of his team-mate, but the timing of the disruption gave the latter a cheap pit stop.

From there, a second consecutive win never looked in doubt, as the former had to settle for a lowly fourth following further issues with energy management and deployment when fighting the Ferraris.

Despite the loss of points, Russell is not concerned with the situation, given how much racing is left over the remainder of the campaign.

"It's three races down in 22, and, as I said, one lap different, and the victory would have been on my side, and I'm confident of that," the British driver told media, including RacingNews365.

"And in China, without the qualifying issue, maybe... You know, I was three-tenths ahead in sprint qualifying, so maybe I could have been on pole there and won that race."

He also highlighted how the lack of Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix also means there is a circuit break in momentum, too, with a "reset" ahead of the trip to Florida.

"So it's just how it turns out; that's racing," the 28-year-old said. "There's now a four-week break, so there's no momentum to be carried, reset and go again for the next race."