“Well, it’s not always about size, as they say”: Why doesn’t George Russell’s neck look like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and what is a Magic Button in Formula 1?
George Russell explains how the drivers can lift 40 kgs with their necks and discusses his favorite tracks to win in Formula One.
Mercedes driver George Russell finished fourth in the Bahrain Grand Prix. There are lots for him to consider and learn after the race.
Apart from answering the engineers and presenters, the most interesting questions came from the fans’ end. Let us look at a few of the most interesting questions asked by fans to Russell on Youtube and Tik Tok, as shown in the GQ magazine’s Actually Me series.
George ‘The Rock’ Russell?
The face and neck are part of the body exposed to high speeds. Drivers must have strong neck muscles. Although the drivers exercise and can lift 40 kgs, their necks look like an average human and not like the Rock [WWE Wrestler & Actor].
Answering this question, Russell explained: “Well, [laughs] it’s not always about size, as they say. I think my fitness test was 53 kilos, I think, on the neck.”
“I’ve got quite a big head as well, so the perception of my neck doesn’t look that big as my head is just so big. Whereas some other drivers have quite a small head, and their neck looks absolutely massive. So I think that’s a bit of perception.” he added.
He further explained why exercising the neck is so important. It is all about the G force, as when a car drives 200 miles an hour, there are six Gs of forces.
“The weight of your head plus the weight of the helmet, you’ve got about probably eight kilos there. Times that by five, and that’s where you’re experiencing every high-speed corner, every braking zone. So yeah, it is true. We can lift more than 40 kg,” the Briton concluded.
George’s engineer asked him to cancel the magic’ and go ‘strat -1’ during the Sakhir Grand Prix. A fan wanted to learn about this, and George was quick to explain. He said: “Magic, it’s like a little button we have on the steering wheel, and you can program that button to do whatever you want.”
“Every team has it. Some teams call it blue button, white button, whatever. The famous one was with Lewis in Baku when his magic was set to have the brake balance forward, and he didn’t cancel the magic, and locked up and went off. I’ve got the magic set up to something different. Won’t say what, but yeah, [laughs] it sounds a bit strategic for sure.” he concluded.
Russell’s favorite circuit?
Since signing for Mercedes’ junior driver program, George Russell has been present in Formula One world. When asked about which three circuits would he love to win on, he kept Silverstone as the priority.
Silverstone is definitely an iconic track and home race for the British driver. Secondly, he chose Monaco as it is a clear favorite for the drivers. In the end, the number 63 decided rival Ferrari’s home track Monza. As per him, he enjoys the crowd supporting Ferrari, and the podium is impressive as well.
❓ If you could win only 3 Grands Prix, which ones would they be?
Janmeyjay Shukla is an artist who contributes his expressions through words as an F1 writer and editor at The SportsRush. He is an F1 historian who has been watching the sport since he was a baby. Passed on from generation to generation, he has seen the prime of Michael Schumacher to the rise of Max Verstappen. A Mercedes fan from the days of the Brawn GP era, the sport runs in his blood.
Besides Formula One, Janmeyjay is a Marketing Head and a musician who loves to sing and play Rock & Pop songs on guitar. His love for sports will never die as he is a loyal Liverpool Football Club fan as well!
