Russell makes great impression at Mercedes: 'Incredibly analytical'
George Russell managed to take his first career victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Briton started convincingly in pole position and managed to keep teammate Lewis Hamilton behind him. Speaking to Sky Sports, James Vowles reveals that he is proud of the driver.
The German formation's chief strategist has known Russell since 2015 and therefore knows well how the talented driver is put together. According to Vowles, the Mercedes driver has a lot of qualities in him, which could make him a formidable opponent for the world title in the coming years.
"He has done a brilliant job all weekend," Vowles said. "And he has been there when he has needed to. He has been on point. Lewis behind him on the same tyres and same conditions and both were let loose to race. This gives the driver confidence and you can see that with George."
Vowles notices that Russell can handle the pressure of performing extremely well. "Since I've known him this is how he is. He is incredibly analytical and he knows what he has to do to achieve results. No nerves up to these points," said the strategist, who saw Hamilton finish second.
Floor of car Hamilton remained intact
The seven-time world champion suffered a contact with Max Verstappen early in the race, causing damage to his floor. However, Vowles stressed that there was nothing major broken on the Briton's car and he was able to continue his way as a result.
George is the true #1 driver at Mercedes now.
Toto would do anything to have Lewis the rainbow warrior
winning everything, but George has outperformed Lewis
clearly.
Maybe Toto can arrange some odd pit strategy for George
to keep him behind in Abu Dhabi and 2023.
Surely Lewis isn't worth the 40 million per year anymore if he gets a new extension, compared to Russell's salary.
He should be offered a 10 million pay cut, added to George's paycheck.
Probably that is why until now, there is still no confirmation of any contract extension for Hami pass 2023 being announced yet.
They are just looking at what Russell can do, then come up with an appropriate salary package to offer to Hamilton.
It would not be a sensible business decision to be offering their No 2 driver so much more than their No 1, who is the one who has given their only win and two pole positions to the team this year.
Look back in the past few years. Any team who has got a driver who was earning much more than the driver who had been the one actually bringing the results for the team, has eventually being asked to leave the team.
Seb at Ferrari or Danny at McLaren.... so will history repeat itself at Mercedes?
Russell absolutely destroyed Lewis this season. Great job. Mercedes should formally call him driver #1 and let him and max fight it for the championship. Lewis can play supporting role, considering he has 0 wins this year
George WILL destroy max next year if and that's a big IF RB haven't overspent on sandwiches again this year.
How about sticking to what we have already observed this season if you wish to talk about "destroy"ie;
George confirmed as Merc no1 driver - destroy 1
Max 14 - Lewis 0 - destroy 2
Ouch
How about max getting schooled by a Merc "rookie" in the 3rd fastest car.
OUCH, that's got to sting !!
Max' wins this year have come in an illegally developed car.
OUCH, OUCH
They were right up with RB and Ferrari in Brazil.
Maybe they were the 3rd fastest for the majority of the year, but in Brazil they did not lack pace!
Clearly lol. Merc are sitting 3rd in the constructors they've been there ALL season and will finish 3rd, so just because they won the penultimate race of the season they're suddenly the fastest car?
Mercedes Leader & future champion in the making...REMEMBER MY WORDS.........i predicted 2 things last year
1) russell will win his first race in 2022
2) russell will beat lewis in 2022
For 2023, i clearly see Mercedes-FIA hindering Russell to allow Lewis to win his 8th. Expect Max to clash with Lewis and dont be surprised if Lewis also clashes with Russell. Write it down because i will say "I TOLD YOU SO". With the way Lewis races, he will clash with Max & Russell, both...just like he did with Rosberg & Max. Whenever he cant beat them, he throws them off track. We forget Max was not the first.....he had many clashes with rosberg as well
I don't think Lewis will beat George next year. George is only going to get better. I see a George/ Max and hopefully Charles duel with Hamilton forced into a supporting role. George is very mature for his age and is very clear with his strategic instructions to the team. Merc would be very naive to not favor George for the title as he clearly has a better shot than Lewis!
I know Lewis wont beat George in a fair fight. But you can clearly see how Mercedes hindered George in at least 5 races with bad strategy. Ask yourself why and you will get the answer.
Preferential better strategy for Hamilton in the past 5 races to give him the advantage over Russell.... This weekend, they were on equal strategies and George came out ahead. What (or who) is the difference?
Hmmm.. Oh yeah! Toto wasnt around this weekend!
Coincidence?? I wonder ...
I said the same thing in another forum :) Toto was not in brazil. Coincidence? 5 races compromised for russell. Else he would beat Lewis by at least 50 points
Bret, your opinion is acknowledged by the majority of fans in F1.
Whilst we are in for some very exciting times around this, my main concern is how far the FIA will allow Hamilton to continue with his dangerous tactics given the freedom is afforded by comparison to other drivers if Silverstone is anything to go by.
We should all be very concerned.
Good that their chief strategist thinks so since every time George radios in about strategy he turns out to be right.
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