Russell says his 'confidence is back and growing'

Mercedes anticipate a testing challenge from McLaren at the Sepang circuit, hoping their first significant upgrade of the year will narrow the gap to the front. George Russell, whose confidence had waned earlier in the campaign, says his belief is returning and strengthening. "I've never truly felt in a position to fight for the victories because my performances weren't strong enough," Russell stated. "But yet now I feel I'm in a spot I can fight for victory week in week out." "Of course there is a large gap in the championship, but there is a third of a season to go and still so much can happen. I am just going to go racing by race. I feel more at one with the car and hopefully this upgrade will play into my favour a bit more. So bring it on." Russell began the year as the title favourite, but Andrea Antonelli seized early momentum as Russell struggled to adapt to Mercedes’ all‑new car and revised power‑unit regulations. He has had to "consciously adjust" his driving style. "I went through a few races where I was having to think how to make those adjustments, whereas now it's just a bit more intuitive and a bit more natural," Russell explained. "So what I set out to achieve, in terms of getting the car [into] a somewhat better window, I'm now achieving without having to think about it as much. So I can just focus on driving fast." Antonelli endured a difficult outing in Baku, crashing in qualifying and starting sixteenth before recovering to finish fifth. "Last race was about as bad a race from me of the season," he said. "But still good learning from the race and was also a very unusual race for me in Baku because it was 1 of those races where I consciously tried not to take any risks and just drive under the limits which was very weird but it was what I needed on Sunday. I needed a clean result after a very disrupted weekend." "I wasn't happy after the race but I learned the most important learning was I need to be always 100% because if I don't try to do everything right in my power then nothing is going to come my way."