By George Russell we know the talent very well, but the first epiphany certainly didn’t come in 2022. Well before the success of Interlagos, which crowned him as the 113th winner of a grand prix, the British driver had largely demonstrated himself. For example in 2020, in the Sakhir Grand Prix, when he was suddenly called by Mercedes to replace the indisposed Lewis Hamiltonaffected by the Coronavirus. Russell impressed everyone, coming close to victory on his debut with a great team, not getting it only due to an incredible mess in the Mercedes garage, and overtaking Valtteri Bottas on the outside with the same car, in a stretch where overtaking is for hearts tough and iron-lipped.
The #63 recalled the emotions of 2020 and his thoughts at the time regarding the sudden switch, albeit for just one race, from Williams to Mercedes: “The 2020 car was the best car they can ever build at Mercedes, I think. It was the pinnacle of the team these eight years. Driving it in Bahrain was a pleasure, especially for me coming from Williams: staying on the W11 felt like playing the PlayStation. It was so good to drive, you felt extremely confident behind the wheel, and I knew after five laps that I could push it to the limit, and I wasn’t afraid of anything, while with the Williams it didn’t happen: maybe it moved a little, the braking management it was more difficult“, these are his words to Auto Motor und Sport. “The difference of two seconds between a top team and the last in the standings cannot be explained by a single factor: it’s a puzzle where you have to find the perfect pieces to put together, from communication to the engine. With Toto’s leadership, Mercedes manages to put all this together perfectly, and for this I think we will return to the top. Here I feel at home“.
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