Russell had continued to insist everything was well – until Monaco. But now it’s out in the open, and he knows he has work to do to turn his season around in terms of pace. Getting on top of what he can control is the key for Russell. The luck, he has to hope, will return one day.
“Yesterday was a bad day for me,” he said. “And I take, I accept that. I need to get myself out of… yeah, I don’t know, how we keep ending up in the same position. Things will need to improve, for sure. But I know on clean weekends what I can do.
“I’m in a very weird state of mind because I’ve had very low moments in my career where I’ve maybe had a run of two or three bad races on my own personal performance. I’ve never had a run of bad luck as such like this.
“It didn’t happen when the car was a P7 car two years ago or a P4, P3 car last year.
“Now I’ve got the car, it feels very painful, but a long way to go. I still very much believe in myself. I still believe we’re going to be fighting for race wins for the end of this year. There’s no reason why we won’t be continuing into next year, but right now it’s tough.”
Wolff said: “Luck swings in your direction, and then sometimes it doesn’t. And it’s not a question of not knowing how to drive. It’s about having a car underneath that you feel confident with, and that you can go fast. And that’s the fact.
“Formula 1 is about physics and not mystics. You don’t unlearn how to drive, and you don’t become a miracle wonder driver. I’m not stressed at all for his performances, because we know he’s one of the best.
“In Monaco, even more than on many other circuits, you need to be one with the car and really in the zone. That’s also why on George’s side, once you lose that confidence, it’s very difficult to be fast here.
“George is really good at analysing and assessing the situation, and we forget, and I told him, when was Montreal, a week ago, two weeks ago? He was on pole, right? He won the sprint race, he was leading the main grand prix, there was no discussion about lack of speed, so that was two weeks ago.
“So, we’ve got to stay with both feet on the ground, work through the data, see why this one was a difficult one, and Miami was a difficult one, but it is not a pattern that I have seen through the season.
“I couldn’t wish for a better combination of the two in a car, and I have no doubt that George will come back very strong.”