© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
By Alexia Tibil
“Obviously after a setback such as 2022 it’s really exciting knowing that we have the possibility to come back through and fight again in 2023.”
- George Russell in a recent reflective interview with Mercedes
Having been utterly considered as part of the “future of the sport” even by Lewis Hamilton himself, George Russell has been constantly and uninterruptedly climbing his way to the top. In this third and final part of my little analysis series, I will try to put into perspective George’s career so far and how he might arrive into the new season.
Before trying to put all the pieces together it is best to take a look back and scrutinize George’s path into the pinnacle of motorsport and his first year as a Mercedes driver. During all of his karting career, Russell managed to win all sorts of championships, both national and international, making him a “young star” that was awaited in the paddock. He made his single-seater debut back in 2014 in Formula Renault 2.0, but his debut did not quite deliver to the expectations, as he only took home one podium at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. He switched to F3 in 2015 and the most notable result within the series has been him winning the title in 2017, an achievement that saw him graduate to F2, and become Mercedes’ reserve driver. After a long season racing wheel to wheel with fellow Brit Lando Norris, and after some great racing from both sides, George captured the series’ driver’s title at the end of 2018. And so, he became only the fourth driver to win both F3 and F2 titles in consecutive seasons. One could say that this back to back glory got the whole paddock to look his way.
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Following his success, George signed a multi-year deal with Williams, and he stayed with the team until the end of 2021. Admittedly, his time at Williams has been a struggle, as the team was mostly relegated to the back of the grid, especially in 2019. While Russell did manage to put in some good performances in 2019 and 2020, he was yet to score his first F1 points. His struggles continued until Hungary 2021, where he managed to finish in P8 (after Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification), and then at Spa he grabbed his first ever podium, after a peculiar weekend. His performance did not go unnoticed, and rumours started circulating around the paddock that he signed a multi-year deal with Mercedes. Then finally, after the summer break, it was announced that he would partner Lewis Hamilton starting in 2022.
As we know pretty well by now, the 2022 season has been atrocious for Mercedes overall. But it goes without saying that George’s first year with the Team can be counted as a success. He finished 19 out of 22 race in the top 5, but his big moment came at the penultimate race of the season – the Sao Paulo Grand Prix – which marked his and Mercedes’ first and only win of 2022. George later opened up and mentioned that although he would have loved to see the chequered flag first earlier in the year, but everything that led up to the Sao Paulo GP has been a constant learning process in all aspects.
In the first part of the season George even outperformed his seven-time world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but it was later revealed by Mercedes that Lewis was tasked with performing more experiments with the car, in an effort to help the team learn more about it and ultimately improve it. This has definitely been beneficial for George as he managed ultimately managed to grab fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship.
Now, when it comes to what George is capable of, there’s no doubt that after looking at his past achievements, he can definitely deliver in 2023. Having Hamilton as a team-mate for the second year in a row can without question help him progress as a driver even more. He’s mentioned on a number of occasions that Lewis’ work ethic has been “inspiring” on every level possible. Additionally, having Lewis as a team-mate can challenge you in ways that will make you want to work harder for your goals, as George also previously stated.
With the 2023 season is upon us, George has been utterly confident with the progress the team has been making during the winter break. He affirmed that clear targets have been set for everyone and added he believes they will be able to take the fight to Red Bull.
“Knowing the potential that we have within this team makes me excited for 2023,” the Briton said.
“It is no secret how fantastic this operation is in Brackley and Brixworth and what the whole team is capable of.”
Will he be able to grab his first title this year, though? Well, after looking over his results and performances in both his good and bad seasons, it’s obvious that George has always been able to rise to the occasion, no matter the circumstance. And if the car lives up to the expectations, there’s no reason not to believe that both Hamilton and Russell could fight for the Championship. And whether George can finish the job this year, or only after Lewis goes into retirement, it is in my opinion only a matter of time before he wins his first F1 title. The talent is there, so why wouldn’t he be able to achieve greatness with Mercedes in the future?
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of SilverArrows.Net.
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