George Russell offers two reasons for wildly inconsistent season as defeat looms

George Russell has pointed to two factors he believes could be responsible for his wildly inconsistent season, which is now entering its end-game.

Should Russell or his nearest rival Lewis Hamilton fail to win the Mexico City Grand Prix, then Russell's team-mate Kimi Antonelli will be crowned champion in just his second season of grand prix racing - and become the youngest-ever title winner.

Even if Russell does win the race, Antonelli would only require a ninth-place finish to become the 36th F1 champion, as the Italian's coronation looks set for Sunday's race.

Russell had started the season in dominant fashion with pole and victory in Australia before Antonelli went on a run of five straight wins to open a points gap he has never relinquished. 

Although Russell has been able to produce strong weekends, including in Azerbaijan with a grand chelem, he has finished off the podium seven times compared to twice for Antonelli - one of which was caused by his wheel shield failure during the British GP and resulting time penalties for track limits.

As defeat beckons for Russell, the Briton, who has been vocal about his driving style impacting his performance, offered fascinating insight into his struggles and how the car underneath him was working against him. 

"I think there have been quite a few factors with the cars this year that potentially favour or hinder a certain driving style," Russell began to media, including RacingNews365.

"I've always been a driver that focuses on the mid to the exit of the corners, which often means I'm on the throttle earlier than most.

"And with these new power units, that means I'm spending more energy, and it's sometimes not the most efficient way to drive for the power unit. 

"Secondly, the tyre pressures this year, especially on the rear, have been very, very high. 

"Pirelli have taken a few PSI of margin, especially on the rear axle, and so that has sort of hindered me by pushing on the exits, as the rear tyres can't cope with it as well. 

"And then there's been the hindrance on the power unit side, so these two factors just really hampered my natural driving style, and I'd say that's probably been the biggest thing of this season."

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Russell defiant over tough season

Such has been the volatility of the tough season; Russell labelled the situation as "quite strange" as he explained the "confusion" he and his engineers were finding themselves in.

"I mean, if we had the answer, maybe I'd be able to maybe replicate it more often, and that's been part of the challenge this year and some of the confusion," he continued.

"I came out of Monaco, and it was a very difficult weekend for me, and I went to Barcelona and was quickest in every session, and put it on pole. Went to Austria at the next race, was on pole again, and then a few races later, I was qualifying down in P5 and P6. 

"In Baku, I was on pole by eight tenths and in Malaysia, I think I qualified P8. 

"I feel in the years gone by, I had a pretty high hit rate of reaching the potential of the car, and maybe at the end of the season, there were four or five races, I feel that were not maximised. 

"I remember 2022. We finished in the top five more than any other driver in the whole season; I think it was 19 from 22 races, and this was the third best car on the grid. 

"And now this season we have the best car, and I'm not able to achieve these results, so it's quite strange, and we're certainly scratching our heads a little bit, and it's definitely not through a lack of trying."