Formula 1’s George Russell : The Master or Disaster of wheel to wheel racing?
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George Russell
The British have always managed to put fourth the best of the best when it comes to racing drivers. George Russell is one of the gems that England is offering alongside Lando Norris and the legendary Lewis Hamilton on the current F1 grid in 2022. Having had an impressive track record in his career before Formula 1, certain questions have arisen after taking some of his performances into consideration this season.
There is no doubt to it that George Russell is an incredibly fast driver. This raw speed definitely came into hand as the British youngster racked up titles here and there. The Mercedes driver won the 2017 GP3 championship and the 2018 Formula 2 title with absolute ease even though he was under immense pressure. This speaks a lot about the driver he is and his abilities. Following his brilliant performances on his #RoadtoF1, Russell earned a Williams F1 seat for 2019.
This wasn’t the happy ending that he sought out for though as George Russell went on to race for a back-marker team for 3 years as he waited and waited for a spot to open in the Mercedes Factory team. With Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas piloting the most dominating machines in the sport, it was obvious where everyone wanted to be including George. So If you wanted to be the one, you had to prove to Toto that you are the one.
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Imola was where we saw George Russell vulnerable and make a mistake under pressure
Back in 2021 during the race in Imola, George Russell who was driving for Williams and Valtteri Bottas who was driving for Mercedes, came together and caused a huge wreck which put both their lives in danger. Apart from that, the teams had to suffer a loss with the amount of damage that was caused. This crash was one of the things that started a conversation about Russell’s skills in wheel to wheel racing.
Imola was just the start for George Russell
Even after incidents like that, there is the heat of the moment but it felt like George was more interested in shouting at Valtteri after the collision. Taking a big leap and coming into 2022, we saw the incident where George Russell went down the inside of Sergio Perez and spun him off into the gravel. Another example is the Mercedes driver going down the inside of Perez in France and pushing him off the track where he later complained about it.
This complaint was further received with criticism as the British driver did not have that corner because Sergio Perez was ahead. Thin in turn shows a pattern of making mistakes and being a bit hesitant to take the blame for them. His antics in France, Silverstone, Austria and Singapore have really riled up the public with some disturbing opinions on the Mercedes driver.
Does George Russell have the skills to be in that Mercedes seat?
When it comes to that question, he definitely does. George is a phenomenal driver who will go to any lengths to overtake and pass. He is aggressive and that is one of the key elements that could help him in his world championship charge sometime in the future. However what won’t help him is his open wheel racing skills. These incidents have made it abundantly clear that the driver finds it a bit hard to race cleanly and sometimes he just isn’t able to.
The latest incident being yesterday’s race at Austin where George Russell spun Carlos Sainz who was on pole at Turn 1 itself. When it comes to outright pace, the Mercedes driver is extremely close to Lewis. However just this skill won’t help him at all and will just endanger his life and the life of his competitors if he keeps making these mistakes.
George Russell is a talented driver and has what it takes to become even more successful in his racing career. However his open wheel racing skills need a drastic amount of change as it is abundantly clear that he can do much better and prevent a lot of unnecessary incidents. These type of situations won’t just compromise his competitor’s but also his own race.
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)