George Russell has branded this season's Drivers' Championship as a "disaster" as he switched focus to helping Mercedes finish runners-up in the Constructors'. Mercedes started two-three on the grid in Qatar, but Lewis Hamilton collided with Russell at Turn 1, putting the seven-time champion out of the race. Russell was able to continue and finish fourth, but the team was only able to pull out two points over nearest challenger Ferrari in their battle for second place in the standings, with Mercedes leading by 28 points after the Lusail race. It has been a difficult second season at Mercedes for Russell who sits eighth in the Drivers' Championship, with just one podium to his name - a third place in the Spanish Grand Prix. He crashed out of third on the final lap in Singapore, while he suffered an engine failure after qualifying second in Australia. Such is the disappointing season, Russell has conceded his season as a driver is over as he aims to guide the team to runners-up behind the runaway Red Bull.
Russell's aim
"For me this year, the Drivers' Championship has been a complete disaster," Russell explained to media including RacingNews365. "I've got one goal [for the rest of the season] and that is to finish P2 in the Teams' Championship - and [the Qatar GP] was a big opportunity for us [to consolidate the position]. "But I still have full faith that we are going to achieve it. I have positivity because the car was quick [in Qatar], and we had a really strong race. "We've got a few little things coming [to the car] for the last races of the season, and I believe we will achieve that result."
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