© Williams Racing
George Russell says drivers don’t get “quicker”, but they “do get better, more consistent”, and during his time with Williams he was able to build up a “toolbox of experience”.
Before joining Mercedes, George Russell went through three tough years with Williams, often struggling at the back of the grid.
While talking about his time with the team, it was put to Russell that drivers do not necessarily become quicker, but actually improve over time through gaining experience.
“Absolutely, I totally agree,” the Briton responded.
“I don’t believe a driver gets quicker. They do get better, more consistent and probably what has allowed me to do that is having a better understanding of the technical side.
“What does it take to get the tyres in the right window to start a lap? How do you deal with your out laps to make sure you’re in the right position, not in too much traffic? If there is traffic, how do you deal with that? What do you need to do differently if a tyre is too hot or too cold?
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“Having built up that toolbox of experience knowing, right, I couldn’t have the perfect out lap because there was some traffic in sector three so I’m going to be slightly under the limit at turn one, but then from turn two onwards the tyre should be in a good window to be able to go from there.
“If you go banzai into turn one and the tyres are slightly too cold, your lap’s gone. So, understanding these limitations.
“Then when you get into a race that’s the really tricky bit, managing so many things at once.”
Russell also said that the experience he had with Williams now allows him to be more comfortable when approaching the limit.
“I feel like we’ve had this very wide window of experience that will allow me to delve into it under certain circumstances.
“If you’re in a championship battle, no matter what the position is, if you’ve a relatively optimised package, you don’t feel comfortable to step outside of the comfort zone too often because you can’t risk it. Every race is so valuable.
“So, we know this is what works, so we’ve just got to continue in this rhythm and try and have the best possible.
“Whereas [at Williams], we could explore setup quite drastically, and I could explore my driving style quite drastically because we were effectively in this big, long test session.
“Every single race we were approaching it as ‘Let’s just keep pushing the tyres and building this understanding so that when the time does come, we should be able to be on top of things’.
“I think that helped us, in given circumstances and tricky conditions, to make more from it.
“Obviously, I would have loved to have been in the fight, in the mix racing harder. But ultimately, when I got back to that position, I feel like I didn’t miss out on anything.
“It’s still racing, at the end of the day, and you’ve got to take the positives in every situation,” Russell concluded.
