George Russell tipped to ignite extraordinary F1 title comeback with ‘fire in his eyes’

George Russell has been tipped to find "another gear" and keep his faint F1 title hopes alive after a "fire in his eyes" performance in Azerbaijan. 

Russell claimed his first grand chelem last time out in Baku, and only failed to top FP3 across the weekend where he put in his strongest performance of the season - one which has been blighted by struggles in gelling with the Mercedes W17 as team-mate Kimi Antonelli raced into an 81-point championship lead with eight grand prix wins.

Azerbaijan was Russell's third of the season, but on a difficult weekend for Antonelli, where he crashed in qualifying and started a season-worst 16th. 

He recovered to fifth in the final results, aiding by Pierre Gasly being knocked out by Franco Colapinto, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri also failing to score points, meaning the Italian's points lead has been reduced to 66. 

Given the commanding nature of Russell's performance in Baku, Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle believes Russell could now use that as a springboard.

"I think this kid, this generational talent we're now seeing in Kimi Antonelli, won't break George at all; it'll be the making of him," Brundle observed to Sky Sports F1. 

 "Actually, he'll find an overdrive, another gear, something he probably didn't know he had in himself, or maybe didn't even realise he needed, and I think Baku was a great example of him proving that. 

"He was on a mission, wasn't he? The fire in his eyes sitting on the grid was extraordinary, so I was really pleased for him, and even though he didn't get the rub of the green in the race because the safety car put the pack back on his tail when he built a 10-second-plus lead, he still kept his head and relished the fight with Max.

"It was one of George's most important performances in Formula 1.

"Mercedes are expecting a good three-tenths out of this upgrade package, and George said: 'Well, that might suit me if the car sticks in a way I like it to stick' - and it might just suit you, but I do not expect [Antonelli's qualifying crash] has dented Antonelli's confidence at all."

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F1 title 'not a done deal'

Brundle then also pointed to some of the unique circuits at the back end of the calendar, which he described as "sketchy" which, he claimed, meant the title race was "far from being a done deal."

"We have some pretty sketchy races coming up," he said.

"It can thunderstorm here in the middle of the race; in Singapore, the walls are always there, and Brazil always throws up some curious results, doesn't it?

"Vegas is a slippery old track, and so there are some really challenging races coming up - and so this championship is far from being a done deal."