David Coulthard fears George Russell is now in ‘a lonely place’ at Mercedes vs Kimi Antonelli

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David Coulthard doesn’t have much reason to be confident in George Russell, as the title race with Kimi Antonelli proves to be far too ‘challenging’ for the Mercedes driver.

After seeing Antonelli win the Monaco Grand Prix amidst his own struggles at Monte Carlo, Russell has plenty of reasons to worry about his Mercedes future.

Mercedes reportedly have a ‘performance clause’ in Russell’s contract, which they could activate after the driver’s slump following a strong start to the season.

What is it going to take for George Russell to get back in the title fight?

Photo by Jayce Illman/Getty Images

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Russell has clearly been rattled by Antonelli’s success this season, and it has started to translate into his performances.

But David Coulthard believes the ramifications of Kimi Antonelli’s success go even further, with George Russell now finding himself in a very isolating situation at Mercedes.

READ MORE: Jolyon Palmer accuses George Russell of causing crash in Monaco Grand Prix ‘protest’

David Coulthard believes George Russell is in the ‘most challenging’ period of his career

Speaking to Justin Bell on the Drive to Wynn, David Coulthard discussed the struggles George Russell is facing at Mercedes amidst the most ‘challenging’ period of his career.

He believes that Antonelli outperforming Russell, despite being the less experienced driver, has put the Briton in a very difficult position, and he needs to find his confidence back.

“I think the fact that fact that he’s come out in his second year, and had this run of success, George has been unlucky with a number of things, reliability and other factors.

“The cards just haven’t fell for him. There will be a moment where you go, ‘You know, if I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck.’ You get into that sort of scenario… It lies in the hands of the drivers… This is probably the most challenging period for George that he’s experienced.

“Being at Williams when it was not a very strong car, he was pretty much the dominant driver there. When you’ve got the upper hand on your teammate, you just feel invincible. When you sit in the debrief, then no one questions whether you took everything from the car.

“But if you’re a couple of tenths behind a teammate, you can’t sit there in the debrief and go, ‘That’s as fast as the car will go,’ because quite evidently it will go faster. It’s a lonely place.

“You lose more in racing than you win… The one thing is confidence. Confidence makes people think they can do the same thing again and again. It’s worth time…”

READ MORE: Martin Brundle says Lewis Hamilton ‘poured salt’ into George Russell’s ‘wounds’ at Monaco Grand Prix

If you were Toto Wolff, would you sign Max Verstappen to replace George Russell?

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George Russell under pressure to get a strong result in Barcelona

Now heading into the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, Russell finds himself under a great deal of pressure to deliver a result that brings him back into the championship race.

After Lewis Hamilton surpassed Russell in the championship standings, he is on the verge of squandering the strong start he made to the season.

And seeing Antonelli’s performances for Mercedes, Toto Wolff is bound to lose faith in Russell soon if things don’t turn around.

Hopefully, Russell can deliver a strong performance at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and start picking up some momentum heading into the toughest stretch of the season.