“Shame we couldn’t see George in the Mercedes again this weekend”- Williams team boss on George Russell returning after Lewis Hamilton recovery.
George Russell gave a low-scoring yet an impactful performance in the Sakhir Grand Prix, when he replaced Lewis Hamiton for Mercedes seat, as the latter was diagnosed COVID-19 positive.
But now after recovering from the virus before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final event of the 2020 calendar, Russell is once again sent back to his current seat at Williams.
Frank, Claire, this one is for you, to celebrate your incredible journey in F1. Thank you for all you’ve done for me, the team and the sport. Hope you like it 🙏 pic.twitter.com/3O1mmXBy7X
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) December 11, 2020
And seeing the promising performance by Russell with Mercedes and limitations of Williams’ car, the team boss Simon Roberts has said that it’s a shame that Russell wouldn’t be performing for Mercedes in the near future.
“It feels like he’s come home for the weekend, which is really nice,” Roberts told reporters at Yas Marina Circuit. “I’m sure he’s a bit disappointed inside but we gave him a really, really warm welcome back, we’re really, genuinely pleased to see him.”
“We’d seen [Aitken] in the car in Austria and he adopted a similar approach, he starts well, he builds through the weekend. He built through first practice,” Roberts explained.
“He’s very competent in the car, gave us good feedback. It wasn’t like we had a complete rookie in the car. He’s been in our simulator, he knows the team well. So he slotted in really, really well.
Shame!
While praising Aitken, who went onto fill Russell’s seat for the Sakhir Grand Prix was also praised, and Roberts resonated the same though about him.
“In a way, it’s a shame we couldn’t see him again this weekend just as it’s a shame we couldn’t see George in the Mercedes again this weekend because I think it’s a big ask.
“We didn’t overload Jack, we were careful with him. We made sure we built up the way the car works through the weekend. We gave him just enough to get the job done.
“But by the time we got into quali and the race, he was as up to speed with our car as we expected and delivered a good result. We wanted him to push and he did. So we were really, really pleased with what he achieved over the weekend.”
