© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
George Russell says he sees “moving teams during this regulation change as a positive” and gives his first impression of Mercedes’ 2022 car.
In his first interview as a Mercedes driver George Russell said he believes switching teams amid a big regulations change is a good thing.
“I see moving teams during this regulation change as a positive, in all honesty,” the Briton said.
“Because we’ve got a completely different car, which is a completely different philosophy to previously, different tyres, working with new engineers…
“I think starting from a completely fresh sheet of paper is beneficial for all, whereas I think, if I stayed with Williams for this season, there’s always things in the back of your mind that you learned on the previous era of cars, that will always subconsciously carry through into the future.
“Whereas, if you are truly starting from a fresh slate, I think that can only be a benefit for this year.”
2022 will also introduce radically different F1 cars. Russell, of course, had the opportunity to see Mercedes’ new challenger.
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“The first impressions of the W13 have been interesting,” he explained.
“It is a very different car to the previous era and the characteristics of how the downforce is produced is completely different so we are still learning as we are going.
“There are still a huge amount of improvements to be made to bring everything together to make it as nice as possible to drive, which I foresee a lot of people being in the same boat because we are just learning so much day after day, whether it is in the wind tunnel or in the simulator.
“I think it is going to be a year of development. Everybody will want to go into the first race with the fastest car possible but what will be more important is understanding what your limitations are and how you are going to improve from those limitations to build the best foundations possible,” Russell concluded.
