George Russell reminded of important phrase after brutal misfortune

George Russell's wretched run of luck in 2026 has prompted Martin Brundle to urge the Mercedes driver to keep the faith, despite a 43-point deficit to teenage team-mate Kimi Antonelli after yet another race slipped through his fingers recently.

Russell retired from the lead of the Canadian Grand Prix when a battery failure killed his W17's power unit entirely, handing Antonelli a fourth consecutive victory.

The Briton's frustration boiled over as he hurled his headrest onto the track after climbing from the stricken car, earning a suspended €5,000 fine from the stewards.

Montréal was merely the latest chapter. In China, Russell suffered a front-wing failure and gearbox problem in Q3, leaving him with a single compromised lap on cold tyres and with no battery deployment. He still managed second on the grid but was denied a proper crack at pole.

Japan was arguably crueller still. Russell pitted one lap before a safety car, triggered by Oliver Bearman's crash at Spoon, gifting Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton cheap stops.

An energy deployment issue then compounded his misery on the restart, costing him further positions as he hit the harvesting limit and suffered what Mercedes termed an "unexpected superclip." He finished fourth.

Russell himself acknowledged the fine margins after Japan, telling RacingNews365: "It's three races down in 22... one lap different, and the victory would have been on my side."

And now, following the weekend at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the British driver has been reminded that things could yet fall in his favour.

"George Russell is now 43 points behind his teenage team-mate, that's equivalent to a first and second place, and he has to believe that what goes around comes around," Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports F1 column.

However, the nine-time podium finisher was also quick to point out that Mercedes cannot expect to enjoy its current advantage for the rest of the campaign.

"There's still a very long way to go, but McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull are not going to stand still either," he added.