George Russell: Max Verstappen and Red Bull were clearly superior and faster to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes but we managed to turn the tables and at the end of the season
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George Russell
Ahead of the 2022 season, Mercedes welcomed George Russell after Valtteri Bottas signed a new contract with Alfa Romeo. The 24-year-old young British driver had some good performances last year and it was enough to sign a new contract with Mercedes for the 2022 season alongside Lewis Hamilton.
George Russell has been competing in Formula One since 2019 with Williams which is backed by Mercedes as a part of their junior program. His extraordinary performance over the years, especially his skills during the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix were convincing enough to promote him to Mercedes.
I wanted to get a seat at Mercedes as soon as possible: George Russell
George Russell thinks he has spent one too many seasons with Williams and believes 2022 is the perfect start with new regulations in play. In an interview, Russell said, “I wanted to get a seat at Mercedes as soon as possible, but in retrospect I have to say the timing is perfect, A change doesn’t have to be negative. Of course, you always want to have consistency over the years, but I think this year is the best possible year to change teams because everyone starts from scratch,” as quoted by planetf1.com.
Also read: “The way that drivers are exploiting the rulebook is understandable,” George
George Russell is no stranger to the Mercedes set up as over the years, he has had several opportunities to test the machine with the team. He has also gotten the opportunity to drive the car from the front of the grid after qualifying P2 when he replaced Lewis Hamilton in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix as Lewis was tested positive of Covid-19. Russell had a strong bet for winning if it wasn’t for Mercedes’ blunder in the pits.
George Russell’s comments ahead of the 2022 season
Russell said the 2022 season will be about developing well throughout the record 23-race season rather than starting on top, citing Mercedes’ 2021 Constructors’ title-winning campaign, in which the Silver Arrows started on the back foot against Red Bull.
“Max [Verstappen] and Red Bull were clearly superior and faster to Lewis and Mercedes,” said Russell. “Everyone thought the World Championship [for Verstappen and Red Bull] was a formality. But Mercedes managed to turn the tables and at the end of the season, they had the faster package. I don’t think it’s important to get off to a quick start because the bottom line is the World Championship will be won over 23 races.”
Talking about the new changes and the technical regulations, George Russell added, “We need to get to know the new 18-inch tyres, understand the new ground-effect cars and how these things interact with each other. There are certainly some interesting thought patterns when we go to Bahrain for the first race and things will change very quickly.”
Fun fact: George Russell has driven a Mercedes since 2017, every year.
Also read: “It’s really easy to be a critic on the sidelines,” Personal…
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Mitali H Shah
(113 Articles Published)