Lando Norris airs 'opposite' George Russell observation after F1 reality shock

Lando Norris believes George Russell is experiencing the "opposite" mental swings he suffered during his 2025 title-winning campaign.

Russell entered the 2026 campaign as the title favourite, given the expectation that Mercedes would dominate, with the Briton earning a comfortable win from pole in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but he has only won once since, in Austria.

Meanwhile, team-mate Kimi Antonelli has won six of the first 11 races, and holds a 59-point buffer over Russell in the drivers' standings, with Lewis Hamilton sandwiched between, nine points ahead of Russell, who has suffered from an initial mysterious issue with his Mercedes power unit.

Investigations showed that the root cause was not Russell's fault, much to his relief, but the Mercedes driver cut a forlorn figure ahead of the summer break. 

Norris, who made his F1 debut alongside Russell in 2019 having risen through the junior ranks and tussled with Russell for the 2018 FIA F2 title, feels that his compatriot is undergoing the inverse to himself during 2025.

Norris initially struggled at the start of 2025, as team-mate Oscar Piastri racked up five wins in the first nine races, with Norris costing himself strong results through qualifying errors. 

Reflecting on the situation for Russell, Norris explained that rather than gaining confidence as he did through 2025 to eventually bounce back and win the title, Russell was potentially losing it. 

"I've always put a lot of pressure on myself. I don't know if George had a lot of pressure on himself, and I don't know what situation he was necessarily in now, but he's also always been quite a confident guy at the same time," Norris observed to media, including RacingNews365. 

"So, whereas last year I went from not much confidence to: 'What have I got to lose now?' he's going for the opposite, I would say, going from feeling quite confident to probably maybe losing some of that confidence, and maybe now getting to that point, every driver has to find their own way of doing it. 

"It's not one thing that works for all, but it's tough; it's tough to know exactly what you've got to do in that situation. Do you put more pressure on yourself? Do you try and feel none of it? 

"He's also got a team-mate that's doing a pretty unbelievable job, probably better than I would say most people are expecting in here. So, yeah, he's just got pressure from having a very good team-mate and someone that's challenging him incredibly well, not making any mistakes. 

"And then you've got your own challenge of just getting the most out of yourself. 

"I've spoken to him about a number of things, but maybe not so much about the pressure, the title, or questions that you get consistently, so not so much about us specifically, but we always talk.

"We always speak about what's going on, what's good, what's not good, and all those things. He's a guy I respect a lot, and I think he's very talented."