Mercedes and George Russell set sights on Max Verstappen

Mercedes has laid out its targets for the remainder of the season - with Max Verstappen firmly in the crosshairs of George Russell. Following the first seven grands prix of the season, Verstappen still had his sights set on a fifth consecutive drivers' championship as he trailed McLaren's Oscar Piastri by just 22 points at that stage. But the Dutch driver has since suffered a dip in results, allied to the poor performance of his RB21, leaving his hopes of retaining his crown in tatters. With Verstappen now 97 points behind Piastri, even advisor Helmut Marko has said it is now "impossible" for Verstappen to become a five-time champion. Russell, who was 25 points behind Verstappen after the latter's victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, is within 15 of a driver with whom there is no love lost. Assessing the focus of Mercedes post the summer shutdown for the final 10 grands prix, top of the agenda is seeing Russell reel in Verstappen. "Well, there are a few things going on," said trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. "We've got George looking in a pretty close battle with Max for P3 in the drivers' championship. "With Kimi [Antonelli], we've seen some excellent race pace. And the focus with him will be making sure we can start him further up the grid, because if we do that, he will just be converting that to a lot of points on a Sunday." That will then aid Mercedes in its quest to finish best of the rest behind McLaren in the constructors' championship. The team is 24 points adrift of second-placed Ferrari, and is aware of what is required to help Russell, Antonelli, and itself close the gap. "We're in a pretty tight battle for second in the constructors' championship," added Shovlin. "Ferrari is just a little ahead, Red Bull behind, so that's going to be fun. "And to achieve that, we've definitely got to optimise what we've got over the remaining tracks. Budapest showed that we've got a good car when we land it in the right place. "And then hopefully, there'll be an opportunity to build on our tally of race wins. We had a great time in Montreal. There are other circuits a bit more like that coming up over the remaining 10 races, and hopefully, we'll have a few more highlights."