‘Mr. Saturday’ George Russell reveals reason for outstanding performances on qualifying day
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George Russel
Mercedes’s rookie driver George Russell opened up about what excites him about the F1 qualifying session. The former Williams racer told Crash.net what bought out the best of him the Saturday racers.
George Russell signed for Williams in 2019 and will be replacing Valtterri Bottas in the Mercedes F1 team from the 2022 season onwards. He was a part of the Mercedes Young Driver programme and the 2018 F2 champion before joining the F1 grid.
Russell is well known amongst the grid as ‘Mr. Saturday’ for his blazing qualifying performances. He has outperformed his teammate on all but one qualification races. In a recent interview with Crash.net, George Russell shared how he consistently outperforms on Saturdays Qualifying session.
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George Russell: ‘Mr. Saturday’ set to make his mark with Mercedes
Russell is well known amongst the grid as ‘Mr. Saturday’ for his blazing qualifying performances. He has outperformed his teammate on all but one qualification races. In a recent interview with Crash.net, George Russell shared how he consistently outperforms on Saturdays Qualifying session.
“It’s the high-pressure stakes of qualifying; you go out there, you’ve got one lap to do the business, the pressure is on and the world’s watching,” said Russell. “It just excites me and I thrive on that pressure to go out there and deliver. I think for a lot of drivers, it’s the most exciting part of the weekend. It’s when your car is at its fastest and when everything is on the line.”
“It’s like a sprint, [with] the race being more of a marathon, managing it to the end. You can’t sprint every lap of a race because you’d be burned out, you’d tire the engine and the brakes. But qualifying – you are not holding anything back, you are unleashing everything and that’s what I enjoy,” continued Russell.
The Briton’s Saturday performances earned him his maiden podium finish in the 2022 season. Having qualified and unbelievable 2nd in the grid, he achieved his first F1 podium with Williams at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. The rain-soaked weekend blessed the Russell as the race finished under safety car.
“That feeling when you’ve managed to accomplish something special over one lap is pure elation and the adrenaline is absolutely pumping because it’s all on the line for such a short period of time,” Russell explained. “It’s sort of just being at one with the car. You need faith and confidence in the car. You need it to react as you want it to and you just feel like you are on this rollercoaster ride, going as fast as possible and everything else is blurred out.”
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Tejas Venkatesh
(366 Articles Published)