Mercedes Star George Russell Makes ‘Frustrating’ Comparison Between F1 and Football

George Russell was expecting to be challenging for championships when he joined Mercedes in 2022. However, this wasn’t the case, as the Silver Arrows were slow to adapt to the ground-effect era, costing Russell a chance to compete for the top honours.

However, during his time at Brackley, Russell has managed to rack up four wins in his Mercedes career. The 27-year-old was hoping for more after joining the most dominant team in the hybrid era. The Brit has claimed that F1 is “frustrating” as most drivers won’t get the chance to win throughout a season.

George Russell makes an F1 and football comparison

George Russell says that the annoying aspect of F1 is that only a handful of drivers on the grid will have the opportunity to win a race. He went one further to say that only around two drivers will compete for the championship. He has compared the sport to football, where, even if a team comes bottom of the table, they will still win a few matches.

Speaking on the UNTAPPED podcast, Russell said: “Formula One is a frustrating sport because you have the 20 best drivers in the world, and yet in a season, you might only have four different drivers actually win a race. And maybe a maximum of two drivers fighting for the world championship. So you’ve got 15 or 16 other drivers who don’t even taste that victory.

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“If you compare that to football. The team who finishes last in the Premier League, in a year, would still win 1, 2, 3, 4 games in a season, if you’re the worst team in the league. So they get that sense of success more times than the number 5 and the number 20 best driver in the world.”

So far this season, only four drivers, including Russell, have won grand prix races. While there is still time for this to change, McLaren looks like it will dominate the rest of the season. This will be frustrating for the remaining drivers yet to win. Charles Leclerc showed his frustration through his tirades over the team radio, as he felt Hungary could have been his only chance to win this year.

George Russell believes he will win a world championship

George Russell is yet to be involved in a title race in his F1 career. However, the Brit is remaining positive about his championship prospects further down the road.

Russell continued: “I still absolutely believe that my time will come. I don’t know when my time will come, but I’m making sure that every single day, I’m ready for that. Whether it’s next year, two years time, five years time or ten years time, I’m making sure I’m ready for it.”

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The 2025 season has arguably been Russell’s best season to date. He started the season strongly with four podiums in the opening six races. He has driven consistently and even won a race at the Canadian GP. Russell has cut out the mistakes that plagued him during his Mercedes career and is only fifteen points behind third-placed Max Verstappen in the standings.

The problem for Russell this year is that, especially given his consistent performance, McLaren is just a step ahead of the competition. This has meant the championship is a two-horse race between the Papaya team’s drivers. If Russell can keep his level up and Mercedes can deliver him a car, there is no doubt the Brit will be in a title fight sooner rather than later.