“If he beats Lewis, his career is made”: Jacques Villeneuve dissects George Russell’s mindset for his debut year at Mercedes
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George Russell
Only a few racers ever win Championship points in their debut races with their new teams and even fewer ones go for the World Championship title in the first year itself. George Russell is not one of them. While signing with Mercedes, the team that had an ongoing streak of winning the Constructors’ Championship for eight consecutive years, Russell knew fully well he would not be able to shoot for the World Championship this early, but he also knew that the key to establishing a dominance in the sport was defeating Lewis Hamilton in his first year with Mercedes itself.
George Russell had entered Formula 1 with fellow F2 racers Lando Norris and Alex Albon in 2019. Ever since then, he had driven in Williams. Although the car that he drove was a difficult one, still he managed to get amazing starting grid positions by showing his speed in the Qualifiers towards the end of his tenure with Williams. When George Russell stepped into his Mercedes W13 for the first time for this season, he had realised it was not a Championship-winning car. This is what former F1 racer Jacques Villeneuve has deduced about the young Briton till now.
Jacques Villeneuve talks about George Russell’s goals in his Mercedes W13 for his first year with the team
As George Russell is undeniably excellent with his racing skills, he was touted Mr. Saturday during his time at Williams as he used to get great starting positions with a car that was too difficult to driver. And now, George Russell has made sure he continues his streak of coming in the top 5 in every race even though his Mercedes racecar this year has been claimed to be a difficult one to drive by his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Speaking of the 24-year-old’s racing strategy as he has already got nine top-five finishes to his name in the nine Grands Prix that have happened till now, Jacques Villeneuve said, “He has the experience now and he’s had a few years of driving bad cars, difficult cars.”
The former F1 racer continued, “So yes, he was okay with a difficult Mercedes that was bouncing, all that mattered to him was beating Lewis.”
“He knew from the start it wasn’t a championship-winning car, if he beats Lewis, his career is made. That’s all that he cares about. And also, both of them being British, he beats Lewis that’s it as his career has been made. So that was his only emphasis: what he needed to do to beat Lewis and that’s what he’s been doing.”
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Riddhi Mondal
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