George Russell faced with Nico Rosberg-Daniel Ricciardo F1 career crossroads

George Russell is faced with a defining juncture in his F1 career that could go "one of two ways" - either that of Nico Rosberg or Daniel Ricciardo.

That's the verdict of Sky Sports F1 pundit and analyst Karun Chandhok, who is wondering in which direction Russell will head after being "pretty beaten up" this year by Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

Chandhok feels Russell could follow the path of Rosberg, who bounced back in 2016 to become F1 champion after witnessing the rise of Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes the previous two years as the British driver won the second and third of his seven titles overall.

Or, Russell may find himself following in the footsteps of Daniel Ricciardo, who eventually found himself overwhelmed by rising star Max Verstappen at Red Bull and opted to leave, sparking the beginning of the end of his F1 journey.

Chandhok framed the next year or so as pivotal for the Briton.

"Here's an interesting one for George Russell, and I'm fascinated to see what happens over the next 15 months between now and the end of next season," he said.

"It can go one of two ways [for him]: either George Russell can do a Nico Rosberg and go from 2015 to 2016 and make a step up and take the fight for the world championship, and win the world championship in the following year, having been pretty beaten up this year.

"Or he could end up in a Daniel Ricciardo situation where he was the established number one in the team, had this young pup Max Verstappen arrive, a generational talent in that Red Bull team, and in the end, he opted to leave.

"He thought, 'You know what, I can't beat this guy, so I'm going to go somewhere else and go for Renault'.

"Does he end up in that scenario where he suddenly realises over the next 15 months, 'No, this is not happening for me. I can't beat this kid in this team, and I've got to start thinking about something else'.

"I'm interested to see which one he ends up following."

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Mexico summed up Russell season

Russell's title-challenging defeat to Antonelli was confirmed at the recent Mexico City Grand Prix as the 20-year-old Italian became the youngest champion in F1 history.

The 28-year-old has said that his season has been beset with issues which have exhausted him, pointing to the fact he had had just six clean weekends all year.

Chandhok was careful to note, though, that Russell's defeat to Antonelli this season has not been purely down to misfortune.

"He has had more issues than his teammate, there's no questioning that," said Chandhok.

"But by his own admission, he's also not been as fast as his teammate. So I think Kimi Antonelli has won the championship because he's been the faster Mercedes driver, and Mercedes produced the fastest car across the season.

"And I think he's won the championship this early in the season, because George Russell has had more bad luck than he has."

Pointing to the most recent round in Mexico, Chandhok singled out the weekend as symbolic of his campaign.

"That weekend just summed it up for him," he remarked.

"He started on the front row, had an engine issue, didn't have power on the opening lap, and all of a sudden he finds himself down in fifth, sixth place.

"It was a frustrating race, just stuck in traffic. It just summed up his weekend, summed up his season, really."