Destiny’s child up for the challenge
HOT SEAT WAS KEPT WARM FOR GEORGE
GEORGE RUSSELL knows he has been handed one of the best seats in the house and now he is determined to prove he is the perfect fit.
Russell will begin the first of his final four races as a Williams driver at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix before his high-profile move to Mercedes next season.
The enormity of the task is certainly not lost on the 23-year-old from King’s Lynn. After all, he will be going up against Lewis Hamilton, a driver Russell has no hesitation in describing as the ‘greatest’.
But Russell is showing no signs of being overawed after signing up to replace Valtteri Bottas as Hamilton’s team-mate.
“To be honest, it almost takes the pressure off,” said Russell. “He’s a proven great, but I believe in myself – I have high expectations and I have an amazing opportunity to show the world what I can do.
“That’s why I’m so relaxed, because I am going to a place where I couldn’t have wished for a better environment ahead of my fourth year in Formula One. I can learn from Lewis and test myself against the best. Who wouldn’t want to be in that position?”
His superb qualifying performances in an uncompetitive Williams have seen Russell dubbed “Mr Saturday”, but behind the wheel of a Mercedes he has the chance to be the fastest Sunday driver out there.
“I was never under the impression that I wouldn’t have the opportunity,” said Russell, as he reflected on the life-changing call that came from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff in the summer.
“Toto said to me, ‘When have I ever let you down? Ever since you joined Mercedes [as an academy driver in 2017] you have always performed and I have never let you down. Focus on performing and leave the rest to me’. I didn’t need to go out there and stand on his doorstep and ask if it was going to happen.
“In fact my parents were hassling me more than I was hassling anyone else. But I told them, ‘Trust me, I believe it will happen, so don’t worry’. I always knew this was the plan.”
The door has been opened, but Russell is acutely aware it can slam shut just as quickly. “There are 20 seats in Formula One and it is very easy to go from zero to hero and back,” he said.
“I didn’t sit down and suddenly think to myself, ‘That’s it, I’m going to be world champion next year’, because I don’t want to get carried away.
“I want to be a world champion, that is clear, but I am going out there to work on the process of achieving that and not waking up every morning and just thinking it will happen.
“I know if I eat the best food, sleep the best way, put the work in in the simulator, work at the gym, work with my engineers, don’t do anything silly, prepare the best as I can, that will give me the best possible shot of what I want to achieve.”
I didn’t need to go and stand on his doorstep