BUDAPEST, July 26 (Reuters) - George Russell needs a break, in more ways than one.
The Mercedes driver will get one for sure, with Formula One going on vacation until the end of August after Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, but another track nightmare had the Briton at the end of his tether.
"I am past the point of disappointment now," he told reporters after another race ruined by a technical glitch.
"If I continue to be disappointed with everything that goes on, I will just be disappointed every day of the week.
“I have got to stay positive ... my pace was as strong as anyone out there, and I haven’t been there for the past two or three races so I will take the positives, but, it is unbelievable the list of things that have gone wrong this season."
PRE-SEASON FAVOURITE NOW FAR BEHIND
Russell, the pre-season title favourite, is now 59 points behind championship-leading teammate Kimi Antonelli after 11 of a possible 23 rounds.
On Sunday, he had lined up sixth on the grid and ahead of the 19-year-old Italian only to plunge to the back of the field on the opening lap when the gremlins he thought had been expelled suddenly returned when the anti-stall activated.
He fought back to seventh, but that was hardly damage limitation with Antonelli on the podium in third place.
“I was on the throttle holding the revs, and four seconds before the lights went out, the engines started revving all over the place - the engine wasn’t reacting to the throttle. It is a brand new engine. No idea," Russell explained.
“The problems are happening to me, but the whole team feels it, too, so they are as pissed off with it as I am.
"We are not the only ones, but it feels like it is happening substantially more to me than others. Hopefully it swings round. I don’t wish any bad luck on anyone but I haven’t had a season like this in my entire career."
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said Russell's misfortune was "fully on us as a team and it isn't good enough.
"He has suffered too many of these problems. We are doing everything we can to get on top of them, but it is unfortunately another issue that has cost him today."
Russell has won two races this season to Antonelli's six and finished three without points. In Belgium last weekend he spun out on the first lap after contact with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, for which the seven-time champion was penalised.
"I can’t be disappointed with things outside of my control," said Russell. "I usually don’t feel like I need a break but this year I definitely feel like I do.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
