George Russell made three bold predictions for the 2024 season in a chat with Sky Sports F1’s presenters. This was during a karting challenge in Bahrain at the start of the season alongside his peers Lando Norris and Alex Albon. Apparently, two of Russell’s predictions have already come true – Mercedes and McLaren winning a race each.
Russell stated, “Bold predictions (for this year)… I’m going to say, Red Bull won’t win every race. I reckon a Mercedes and a McLaren will win a race this year, and I’m going to say Williams on the podium.”
After the kind of form Red Bull showcased during pre-season testing and in the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, many expected them to win every race. However, the reality has been far from it as rival teams like McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes have closed in on them to reduce the performance gap.
I forgot about this gem
“bold predictions (for this year), I’m going to say, red bull won’t win every race, I reckon a mercedes and a mclaren will win a race this year, and I’m going to say williams on the podium.”
george might be on to something… now expecting an alex podium pic.twitter.com/7T0g2dvfaw
— kyu (@tracklims) July 11, 2024
Moreover, the RB20 has also had drivability and handling issues on bumpy and street tracks, which has handicapped Red Bull at several races such as Monaco and Canada. On the other hand, McLaren and Mercedes stepped on their game with upgrades to their respective cars. McLaren got instant results as they won the Miami GP on the same weekend they brought upgrades to the MCL38.
Meanwhile, Mercedes brought a series of upgrades since Monaco and their persistence paid off as they won consecutive races in Austria and Silverstone. Thus, Russell’s predictions have come true in spectacular fashion with two wins for the Silver Arrows and McLaren being in the hunt for wins every weekend since Miami.
Now, the third prediction of a Williams podium most likely depends on Alex Albon. While one could have expected Williams to pull off such a miracle about 12 months ago, it seems a bit too bold currently.
Can Albon and Williams make Russell’s bold prediction come true?
Now, Russell may have predicted these outcomes in good faith being in the company of Norris and Albon at the karting track. However, given the way two of those have materialized in reality, Albon may also fancy the prediction about Williams to come true.
The Thai driver is most likely the man to deliver such a surprise result for Williams, given the way he has carried the team since 2022. His teammate Logan Sargeant, on the other hand, is once again struggling and hasn’t scored a single point so far in 2024.
Our duo leave Silverstone feeling like there was potential for more points but happy overall pic.twitter.com/CDcxT6VM0Z
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) July 8, 2024
However, Williams have taken a step back in performance with their car as well. Before the season started, the Grove outfit had production delays with the car that also affected the manufacturing of a spare chassis. Besides, on track, the FW46 doesn’t seem to have the straight-line speed it possessed in 2022 and 2023.
Williams are now trying to make the car an aerodynamically efficient machinery that can deliver good performance on a range of circuits rather than limiting it to just high-speed tracks. However, they have dropped performance this season in trying to do so.
Thus, the Grove outfit will have to make a lot of ground and bring upgrades to get into podium contention this season. As things stand, they would aim to focus on taking a major step forward with the 2025 car, with half the season completed this year.
