George Russell had an interesting reaction when told of the results of his battle with Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes driver George Russell was unsure how to react when informed of his record against his team-mate Lewis Hamilton this season. The 25-year-old tied with the seven-time world champion 11-11 in qualifying sessions, an area where Hamilton has historically been extremely successful.
Hamilton has had more pole positions than any other driver in Formula One history and his high standards have been met by Russell. Despite finishing 59 points and five positions behind his more experienced team-mate, Russell matching Hamilton in qualifying goes some way to prove that he deserves his spot with the Silver Arrows.
However, Russell was not happy when he was told of his record against Hamilton. Speaking to Channel 4’s Steve Jones, the presenter was more excited than Russell himself. When he was told that matching Hamilton is something to be proud of, Russell replied: “I don’t really know to be honest.”
The host insisted that he would be “chuffed” with that record, but Russell took an opposite approach and added: “Nobody celebrates a draw, do they?” These comments will likely be music to Mercedes’ ears as Russell has shown that he is not content with matching Hamilton, but has ambitions to be a winner on the grid.
Jones stressed “but it’s Lewis Hamilton!” due to his record in qualifying, before Russell explained: “It’s been a strange season. I felt very good on the Saturday afternoons and sort of found a bit more of my mojo when I struggled a little bit at times in the season.
“But this car is just so challenging to drive and you said we’re 11-all, but we’re never the same pace. Either I’m four or five-tenths ahead, or he’s four or five-tenths ahead of me and that just goes to show how difficult the car is, how difficult the tyres are.”
Yet again both Russell and Hamilton have regretted the W14 all through the season, having fallen a long ways behind Red Bull’s predominant vehicle. After the year came to a nearby in Abu Dhabi, Russell conceded that he was anticipating a “fresh start” with the following year’s vehicle and knows where they need to improve to get Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
“We’re bringing a fresh start into the following year’s vehicle,” he said. “The positive is we’re not scratching our heads with regards to for what reason we’re such a long ways behind Red Bull. We see such countless imperfections with this vehicle.
That gives everyone back at the industrial facility such a lot of inspiration and fire to pursue those issues and find those arrangements, which we think will make a decent step into the following year. Obviously, I anticipate that Red Bull should make a stage once more, yet I’ve no question, come Bahrain, we’ll be in a more grounded position than we were in Bahrain this year.”