Swapping teams with a rival may be Russell's best move

As the Formula One enterprise returns to real racing this weekend in Austria away from the sprinkle and stardust of movie premieres in New York and London one of the season’s standout drivers so far is in an unusual predicament. A scenario, you might say, worthy of a drama. No doubt Box to Box, the producers of Netflix's Formula 1: Drive to Survive are rubbing their hands together.

- KIERAN JACKSON F1 CORRESPONDENT

George Russell, at this present stage, can do little more. The 27year-old, in his fourth season at Mercedes and first without Lewis Hamilton by his side, has taken to the role of "team leader" with poise and serenity. As the Brit acknowledged to The Independent last month, he's been "getting better and better".

Let's take the last two races. Last time out, in Canada, one of the laps of the year saw Russell clinch a memorable pole position.

From there, he thwarted any challenge behind him with a composed drive out in front to victory. In a Mercedes car which has been capricious so far this season, it was arguably Russell's best weekend in F1 to date.

The previous race, Russell held his nerve - and his tongue in the media pen afterwards - after being clattered into by arch-rival Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver was duly punished and remains a penalty point away from a race ban, ahead of Silverstone next week. But Verstappen is lurking in Russell's background in more ways than one.