Toto Wolff explains George Russell 'spiral' after major F1 doubts

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has explained the "spiral of overthinking" George Russell became trapped in after a poor run of F1 form. 

After winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Russell only scored two more podiums before his commanding win in Austria last time out, during which time team-mate Kimi Antonelli racked up five wins in succession.

Russell was hampered by breaking down from the lead in Canada, but in Miami and Monaco in particular, he was comprehensively out-performed by Antonelli, and expressed major doubts about his driving style not connecting with the W17 machine.

After winning in Austria, Russell explained that he felt from his side, he knew what he had to deliver, but was not sure if he could extract it from the package underneath him, as Wolff explained the "spiral of overthinking" Russell had found himself in, one which affects every "top athlete."

"It is such a high-pressure environment that you can have a strong team-mate, and that's your year, and then he is so strong, you then have a DNF, and then you're falling behind," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.

"I think every top athlete, you can kind of get yourself into a spiral, not of negativity, it is more a spiral of overthinking. 

"'What can I do more? What do I need? Where do I need to optimise?', and then sometimes, you can forget about the core essence, and this is just driving the car.

"This 'just drive' is something that we talk a lot about, and it is just being in the moment of driving the car, not overthinking too much about the strategy, what Kimi is doing, just drive the car as fast as you can. 

"Look at the tyre temperatures, and don't burn them, so that's the only metric you need to look at, and that's what I was trying to say."