George Russell downplays the actual fact he beat Formula One nice Lewis Hamilton of their first season at Mercedes and totally expects him to come back charging again. Russell was fourth general final 12 months in comparison with sixth for Hamilton, the F1 record-holder with 103 wins and 103 pole positions.
The performances of Russell shocked some observers contemplating he joined from a Williams staff used to languishing on the again. But he secured Mercedes’ solely pole place and victory in Hungary and Brazil, whereas Hamilton did not win a race for the primary time in a F1 profession relationship to 2007.
“Those stats against a guy like Lewis are pretty irrelevant. He’s achieved 100 and more poles and victories,” Russell mentioned on Thursday forward of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday. (F1: ‘Didn’t Find The Right Setup,’ Toto Wolff Confirms Problem With New Mercedes Car)
“Race pace is maybe something I want to improve slightly, and I probably improved that towards the end of the year compared to Lewis. But he’s just an animal and he keeps on fighting, he keeps on going, and he never gives up. So I think he’s going to come back fighting even more.”
Both Mercedes automobiles struggled for a lot of final 12 months with the bottom impact referred to as porpoising, an aerodynamic problem the place automobiles hop and bounce on the observe. Preseason testing final week steered the issue is a factor of the previous, and Russell is wanting ahead to a battle with Hamilton with out stressing in regards to the automobile.
“I’m excited to have that challenge,” Russell mentioned. “But ultimately the two of us are looking for the top step on the podium, not just the No. 1 spot on the team.”
Both appeared in relaxed temper as they arrived on the Sakhir circuit on Thursday for his or her media duties, forward of Friday’s first follow session. Russell gave a thumbs up whereas Hamilton strolled by means of the paddock with an attention grabbing all-red outfit and red-framed sun shades. There had been points with the automobile’s stability and traction throughout testing in Bahrain, however Russell is assured these have been resolved.
“We had a really good time between the test and the race to analyse what happened,” he mentioned.
“There were a few things going on with the car that we didn’t quite expect but we’ve been able to resolve pretty easily. (We were) just working slightly in the wrong window, we were running with a different rear wing in the Bahrain test just for some correlation work, and that wasn’t an optimal rear wing.”
Mercedes received a report eight straight constructors titles earlier than Red Bull ended that run final 12 months when Max Verstappen crushed the sphere on his method to a report 15 wins and a second straight world title.
“We need to trust in our process. Mercedes have built a world championship-winning car for eight seasons in a row,” Russell mentioned. “We’ve still fundamentally got all of the same guys there, and they haven’t just forgotten how to build a fast race car.”
But neither has Red Bull, and Verstappen mentioned throughout testing the RB19 could possibly be even higher than final 12 months’s automobile. Russell tends to agree that Red Bull is forward, for now.
“It’s definitely fair to say Red Bull are in a league of their own this weekend in Bahrain,” he mentioned. “It will probably be a nice fight for second place probably between (Mercedes), Ferrari and Aston Martin. I absolutely believe as the season progresses we’re going to close that gap.”
