Breaking news
Formula 1
'Imperfect' career prepared Russell for Williams woes
Williams driver George Russell believes he's found it easier to cope with the team's current difficulties because he himself hasn't had a “perfect career” leading up to Formula 1.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Published: May 5, 2019, 1:39 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Russell, the reigning Formula 2 champion, has impressed in his first outings for the Grove-based team so far, regularly outqualifying and outracing teammate Robert Kubica.
This came amid a bruising start to the campaign for Williams, whose FW42 car has remained cut adrift of the midfield battle.
Asked by Motorsport.com whether his own career background helped him better cope with Williams' current predicament, Russell said: “Yeah, you know, it's not my first difficult year.
“I think sometimes if you have just such a perfect career path, when you do have a difficulty, you don't know how to handle it, whereas I've had a number of difficult moments in my career, so I've sort of got the experience on that hand.”
Russell, who is backed by Mercedes, stepped up to F1 after claiming back-to-back titles in GP3 and F2 in 2017 and '18, both for ART Grand Prix.
Those accolades followed two less glorious years in European Formula 3 with Carlin in 2015 and Hitech GP in 2016, during which the Briton was unable to fight for the title against the leading cars of the dominant Prema outfit.
Russell cited these as examples of “character-building” campaigns for him, while also putting 2013, his final year in karting, into the same category.
“My last year in karting was very difficult, I went to a team [Birel ART] which wasn't performing at the time. I saw it as a win-win situation; if I performed it'd look great on me and if I didn't, people would just blame it on the equipment.
“You can call that a character-building season, and I also had that in Formula 3, my two seasons in Formula 3 were far from perfect. And that made me sort of into the driver I am today, and I learned a huge amount from those moments.”
While Russell can only measure himself against Kubica right now – and even there direct comparisons have been made difficult by a perceived difference in equipment – the Briton hopes his reputation gets a lift from the strong performances of other young drivers in F1.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Toro Rosso newcomer Alex Albon and McLaren rookie Lando Norris have all impressed in the opening stages of the 2019 season, and are all drivers Russell successfully competed alongside in his junior career.
“I think the level of rookies these days is extremely high, and obviously in these difficult times for me, looking at what they're doing, I wouldn't say it fills me with pride, but it kind of looks good on me as well.
“Obviously we all [Russell, Norris and Albon] raced in equal machinery [in F2] last year, so if they're doing a great job, then that looks good on me as well.”
14
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 Sainz was "puzzled" by McLaren during Renault tenure
Next article Red Bull "totally confident" Verstappen will stay on
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
George Russell
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
George Russell calls Red Bull "the team to beat" in F1, but Kimi Antonelli adds a key caveat
George Russell handed another 20-place penalty before the Singapore Grand Prix
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
George Russell handed another 20-place penalty before the Singapore Grand Prix
More from
Williams
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
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Williams Racing is suing a local garage owner for £1million
Latest news
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 46 min
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 2 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 2 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 2 h
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
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