“The driver is in control of the Mercedes” – George Russell returned to Williams for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a dream race with Mercedes in Sakhir, Bahrain.
George Russell got a dream race with the Mercedes F1 team after Lewis Hamilton tested positive for Covid-19. He got on the W11 for the Sakhir GP, and drove admirably, unlucky not to win the race. But after Hamilton recovered, he had to return to Williams for the season-finale at Abu Dhabi. Speaking to Motorsport.com, Russell tells us the difference between driving a Mercedes and any other car.
“It was actually harder probably jumping back to the Williams because the Mercedes car is so good. It’s what every driver wants from a race car what the Mercedes gives you, and you feel it.”
“The driver is in control of the Mercedes, whereas sometimes it’s almost like our car is controlling the driver.”
“We have to react to it, whereas in the Mercedes you are the one controlling it. So I think it’s only natural when you’ve got a great car underneath you, it’s a true joy to drive. And maybe that’s why I probably got up to speed with it relatively quickly.”
George Russell happy with how the season ended with Williams
Russell finished P15 in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a more-than-decent performance. More so, considering he had to deal with issues of managing his brakes and the tyre temperature.
“It was a really well-managed and executed race for all of the little gremlins in the background. But with the track temp dropping, you need to be able to push the car to the absolute limits and we couldn’t really do that.
“So I’m happy we’ve sort of ended like that. The Alfa Romeos were quicker than us this weekend and we beat both Haas and (Antonio) Giovinazzi, so job well done.”
