Breaking news
Formula 1
Russell made "PowerPoint presentation" in Williams 2018 bid
George Russell tried to land a 2018 Williams Formula 1 drive and made a PowerPoint presentation to aid his bid, the team's chief technical officer Paddy Lowe has revealed.
Scott Mitchell
Published: Nov 6, 2018, 4:54 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Russell has been confirmed at Williams for 2019 after impressing the team with his championship-leading Formula 2 campaign, Mercedes test outings and simulator work.
His off-track attitude has also made a significant early impression on the likes of Lowe and deputy team principal Claire Williams.
Lowe told Motorsport.com that Russell initially wanted to be considered for the 2018 drive that eventually went to Sergey Sirotkin.
“The thing about George is for a young guy he’s very confident," said Lowe.
“He takes the initiative to try and shape his future and I think that’s one of the reasons he’s got to where he has.
“As an example, last year he wanted to be in the running even to drive for 2018.
“I think it was a bit early. It’s good he’s done the year in F2, I think a year ago would have been too early for George to consider F1.
“He will be much stronger having done that year in F2, but he came to me a year ago with a PowerPoint presentation with why he was going to be our best driver.
“I’ve never received one of those before.”
Russell initiated his 2019 deal by calling Lowe in the summer to arrange a meeting with him and Williams, which he said was important to show how serious he was about Williams.
The 20-year-old told Motorsport.com that his 2018 pitch was made in a similar vein.
“I thought rather than sitting down and telling someone how good I am, it’s better to put it on paper and give the stats to back it up,” said Russell.
“It wasn’t just about my CV, I was trying to explain more about my character and what I felt I could bring to the team – just bits about myself, stats like first laps, winning and losing positions.
“Just [presenting] things from different angles, right there on paper, for them to look back on when I walked away from the meeting.”
Williams was keen to confirm the Mercedes junior before the end of the 2018 season to give the team a lift in a trying year.
It has signed Russell without running him in a car directly, although received data from Mercedes and was impressed by his unofficial record-breaking pace in Hungary testing earlier this year.
“He has driven the Mercedes in test sessions and from that you get comparative data that’s just as good as you would get putting him in your own car,” said Lowe.
“We had enough data with which to determine the calibre of driver we’re dealing with and the pace that we should expect.
“For instance, he currently holds the fastest lap around the Hungaroring of all time.
“It’s unofficial and it was on a hypersoft but nonetheless it’s not a bad statistic and you need to be pretty good to have achieved that goal.”
George Russell, Mercedes AMG F1 W09
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Sauber "outdeveloping" even F1's top teams - Force India
Next article Win the Ultimate Experience with Marriott in Abu Dhabi
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
George Russell
George Russell reveals he lost sleep over his own driving, not the F1 championship
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
George Russell reveals he lost sleep over his own driving, not the F1 championship
George Russell: F1 2026 season a test of "character and resilience"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
6 h
George Russell: F1 2026 season a test of "character and resilience"
More from
Williams
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Formula 1
Formula 1
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
James Vowles explains request for review of F1 cost cap
Latest news
George Russell reveals he lost sleep over his own driving, not the F1 championship
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
George Russell reveals he lost sleep over his own driving, not the F1 championship
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
46 min
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Max Papis announces departure as IndyCar chief steward
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
Max Papis announces departure as IndyCar chief steward
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | Asia Race 2: Victory for Li/Sherlock, but Tregurtha crowned champion over Sceats/Wisniewski
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | Asia Race 2: Victory for Li/Sherlock, but Tregurtha crowned champion over Sceats/Wisniewski
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe