George Russell has admitted he has lost interest in his final championship position this season, with his Formula One title hopes effectively over after being outperformed by team-mate Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli's ninth victory of the campaign in Austin on Sunday all but secured the drivers' title, moving 123 points clear of Russell with 125 still available. The battle behind is far tighter, with Lewis Hamilton just one point behind Russell, Max Verstappen six adrift and Charles Leclerc a further three points back.
Russell prioritises constructors' crown
Russell risks slipping from second in the standings if his recent form continues, but the Briton insists the outcome no longer matters to him. He said: "As long as we win the constructors' championship, that's the main thing. Obviously, I'd like to finish best of the rest but P2, P3, P5 is not champion, so it doesn't mean anything."
Mercedes hold a 133-point lead over Ferrari with five rounds remaining, an advantage that would have been larger but for one of Russell's more difficult Sunday drives this year.
Wolff defends Russell
Antonelli won by 13 seconds in a performance Mercedes boss Toto Wolff described as that "of a champion who isn't the champion yet".
Russell's race was compromised by a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while defending from Oscar Piastri, after which he spent much of the remainder chasing the McLaren.
He said: "It was six good laps and 50 bad laps. The penalty was a bit ridiculous as well, but that's the least of my worries after such a bad weekend. [Antonelli] obviously was exceptionally competitive and there are signs that the [car's performance] window is very small. I hope that's an explanation for my lack of pace today, but I need to believe in my team because it's difficult to understand when you're so far off."
Former Red Bull chief Helmut Marko suggested before the Austin race that Russell, 28, will not get another chance, but Wolff rejected that view. He said: "I think he's wrong on George. George has all the ability, I think the car doesn't suit him.
"I think that, at the beginning of the season, it's difficult to cope with a situation where you're feeling like 'This is my year to come', and then you have this wunderkind on the other side that starts to really chip away. And I believe that in a new season, George, if we provide him a quick car, has absolutely what it needs to win a championship.
"George, for all of us in the team, is a champion and has won in every category. I think he merits to be put in the group of the very best ones. This year we see this variability in results.
"When we land the car in the way that suits him, he's absolutely fine. But when it drops out of the operational window, he struggles. He struggles more than maybe Kimi, and that is on us. We just have to work it out.
"George is not half a second slower, three tenths slower than Kimi. That's just absolutely not the case. So what is it that he doesn't like? What is it that we need to do in terms of modifying the car, setting it up in a different way for him to go fast? Because it's all there – intelligence, ability, determination."
