Now that the confirmation of his switch to Mercedes in 2022 is finally no longer a secret, George Russell can start looking ahead to a huge leap in equipment and with that, possibly title chances. The driver states, however, that having to navigate in such a difficult car as the recent Williams has taught him a lot. He also sees great value in his cooperation with Robert Kubica, who knows like no other what it is like to fight against Lewis Hamilton.
"It’s something I’ve been so grateful for, and in ways having such a difficult race car – especially in 2019 and 2020", Russell explained in conversation with Chris Medland for Motorsport Magazine. "This has probably forced me to work even harder."
Valuable lessons
Russell also says he has learned a lot from former teammate Robert Kubica, who was also a major rival of Lewis Hamilton. "I was incredibly fortunate to have beeen teammates with Robert," the Brit continues. "He’s got so much experience, so much technical knowledge, that was a real eye-opener for me being team-mates with Robert and I had to raise my game to be honest."
"This was really benefited by just seeing how educated Robert was, which really helped me in 2020 and this year when Nicholas [Latifi] came onboard as a rookie", Russell added. Whether the driver will actually be able to use this knowledge to challenge Hamilton we will see in 2022.
