Despite his move to Mercedes being confirmed in September, George Russell maintains that his primary goal will remain to perform to his team’s expectations at Williams and not think about Mercedes too much.
September brought the news that George Russell has been confirmed as the second driver to race alongside Lewis Hamilton. He would be replacing the outgoing Valtteri Bottas who will drive for Alfa Romeo next year following fellow Finn driver Kimi Raikönnen’s retirement at the end of this season.
Russell has been with Williams on a three-year contract where he was essentially on loan to the team. The Mercedes junior driver has been one of their star performers in the short time at the British team.
Throwing it back to George Russell’s dramatic first lap 😳
He features in our top 🔟 onboards from the #MexicoGP @emirates | #FlyEmiratesFlyBetter
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 9, 2021
Even though the move is now set in stone, questions regarding his move to Mercedes have always hounded Russell. He explains that dwelling on next year’s team will show a lack of professionalism on his behalf towards his current team.
Also read: Mercedes boss sends a warning to George Russell ahead of the 2022 Formula 1season
“Obviously I get asked a lot of questions regarding the Mercedes move next year, but I think it’s unprofessional if I start thinking ahead too quick or too early,” said Russell, to Motorsport.com.
“I’m giving as much effort into this season and the remaining races as I ever have.”
Alfa Romeo proving to be a tough fight for Williams
After scoring zero points for 2.5 years at Williams, Russell has managed to clinch 16 points to his name, even scoring his first-ever F1 podium in the controversial Belgium Grand Prix of 2021.
Adding those to teammate Nicholas Latifi’s seven points means that the battle with Alfa Romeo is on. Williams is currently just 12 points ahead of the Swiss team.
This year has seen Williams improve massively under new management and the British team have finally brought the battle to their competitors.
A tough race for Russell which saw him accidentally dislodge his drinks tube left him dehydrated and caused him to fall down the order in Mexico. At the same time, Kimi Raikönnen scoring points in the same race has caused the gap between the rival teams to be narrowed down.
With just four races to go, Russell has specified that his main target for the remainder of the season is to help Williams maintain their lead over Alfa Romeo and win that extra cash prize that comes from finishing higher in the Constructor’s championship.
“I want to make sure we seal this P8 in the championship but obviously Alfa picked up four more points now,” said the British driver.
“I don’t know what happened to Antonio [Giovinazzi] as they were both in the points at one point. So that’s our goal now, to try to score some more points and try to stop them scoring points.”
Also read: Alfa Romeo set to announce their other 2022 driver after the Brazilian Grand Prix
