GEORGE RUSSELL
Forget the ridiculous ‘Mr Saturday’ tag. There’s more to George Russell than impressive qualifying statistics. This thrillingly complete young talent is driving Williams out of the doldrums even as he eyes a future at Mercedes…
What are the skills he brings to Williams on top of his raw speed?
The old adage in Formula 1 that the first person you must beat is your team-mate may be clichéd, yet it rings true.
Drivers constantly compare themselves with the man across the garage, knowing the importance of becoming the in-house alpha.
It makes qualifying head-to-head records a valued statistic for many drivers. As pallypally as Lando Norris was with Carlos Sainz at Mclaren, he took some pleasure in pipping the Spaniard on Saturdays across their two seasons together (11-10 in 2019, 8-8 in 2020). Fernando Alonso’s 21-0 whitewash of Stoffel Vandoorne in 2018 meant so much to the two-time world champion that he was still trotting out the statistic 18 months later.
But even Alonso’s qualifying prowess looks workmanlike compared with that of George Russell. In his 43 appearances with Williams (at the time of writing, pre-french GP), not once has he been outqualified by a team-mate. He equalled Alonso’s 21-0 sweep in 2019, when paired with Robert Kubica – a grand prix winner – and leads Nicholas Latifi 22-0 in their seasonand-a-bit together. The only F1 team-mate to ever outqualify Russell is Valtteri Bottas, who pipped him to pole in their single race together at Mercedes – and we all know who really walked away as the moral winner that weekend…
It has led to the moniker of ‘Mr Saturday’ being attached to Russell by TV types, who then rattle out those statistics like tickets from a slot machine every time he makes it through to Q2. As impressive as his qualifying record is, to reduce his significance to that of a qualiday footnote belies the true power of Britain’s burgeoning F1 star. Last year in Sakhir he offered a glimpse of what he could one day do for Mercedes, jumping in at the last minute and making full use of the tools at his disposal. But to be true world champion material requires a greater contribution: it’s being a leader, rallying those around you, and being a figurehead in the team’s progression in every area.
They are valuable skills which those around Russell at Williams have seen him hone since making his debut in 2019. “He’s just got better and better, and developed almost with every race,” says Dave Robson, Williams’ head of vehicle performance. “Not so much in terms of the driving, that’s always been very strong. But in terms of his understanding of the whole game that we play and everything that we need to get right and we need his help with, it’s just improved endlessly.
“His role within the team is particular, he takes it in his stride in leading that. He’s an excellent asset in all regards.”
The evolution into a leadership role was something Russell was required to embrace quickly. As the depth of the team’s plight became clear in early 2019, there was a contrast in the response of the two drivers: while Kubica – the more experienced, seemingly senior head – subsided into negativity, the junior Russell accepted the state of affairs and got stuck in trying to make a difference.
“2019 was an incredibly difficult baptism of fire,” recalls Robson. “Once he’d got his head around the situation we were in, he was extremely good at being clear about the order of the problems that needed tackling.”
Dealing with a car as devilish as the FW42 helped Russell hone his development skills and feedback, helping the team make big strides in each of the past two seasons and move off the foot of the pecking order in 2021. He even gleaned some helpful slivers of information during his one-race sojourn with Mercedes, feeding back to Williams that it should change its clutch paddle designs after sampling a different steering wheel.
The technical understanding he has forged is “right up there” with the best drivers Robson – once a race engineer to Jenson Button and
“HIS TECHNICAL UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE CAR HAS TO DO, HOW THE TYRES HAVE TO WORK, AND SOME OF THE COMPROMISES YOU HAVE TO MAKE, IS NOW AS GOOD AS ANYONE, I THINK, IN THE PITLANE”
DAVE ROBSON, WILLIAMS’ HEAD OF VEHICLE PERFORMANCE
Felipe Massa – has worked with: “His technical understanding of what the car has to do, how the tyres have to work, and some of the compromises you have to make, is now as good as anyone, I think, in the pitlane.”
It has made Russell not only an important asset to his team, but also to his team-mate. Nicholas Latifi joined Williams as a rookie in 2020, and while paired with a younger driver who had just 21 grands prix to his name, he was quickly able to lean on Russell to help his own performances as he got up to speed in F1.
“It’s been hugely beneficial to have a teammate like George,” Latifi says. “Definitely in those opening races at the beginning of the year and throughout the year, [I was] learning from him what I can in the data, seeing what he is asking for from the car, what he thinks the car needs to go quicker, when I was just trying to find my feet and get up to the limit – for sure relying a bit on that information was very helpful.”
Latifi’s confidence may have grown into his second season, but he still finds it a “great help” to have such a strong reference in Russell – even when on the wrong side of the qualifying scoreline. “Part of it just stems from having George as your team-mate,” Robson says of their head-to-head record. “He does have an incredible ability to pull something out when it really matters.”
But it is not just Russell’s on-track capabilities that have made him such a powerful and important figure within Williams. The soft skills he has developed off-track, knowing how to best work with the team around him and keep heads up – even through the trickiest of times – has been hugely important to Williams.
“It’s not just his technical input, but also the way he interacts with everyone and his positivity,” says Robson. “Although he can, quite understandably, get frustrated in the heat of the moment, his positivity and general way he is so constructive is very good and exactly what we needed over the last couple of years. He’s played a big role.”
At just 23 years old, Russell has a growing voice and authority that few of his peers
boast. It has earned him the respect of the entire F1 grid, evidenced by his appointment as the GPDA’S newest director at the start of this year following Romain Grosjean’s exit from the series, wishing to represent “the younger half of the grid”. Internally at Williams, he has also used his eagerness to speak up to good effect, wishing to make himself heard from day one.
“There’s something about him: when he talks, people listen,” says Robson. “It’s important, provided he’s talking about the right thing. Perhaps right at the beginning, he didn’t always get [that] right, but it didn’t take him long to suss that out and understand.”
Robson’s comment is another sign of Russell’s willingness and ability to learn from his mistakes, a trait that fits perfectly with the culture built by Mercedes in its evolution to a title-winning F1 juggernaut.
It was something that he has already had to put into action this year, having brazenly pointed the finger at Bottas for their crash at Imola and then proposed a theory that had tinfoil hats quivering across the F1 Twittersphere. On the flight home after the race with Mercedes head honchos Toto Wolff and James Allison, Russell said he was given some “tough love”, but he acted quickly: he apologised, retracted his comments, and vowed to learn from the saga.
It’s exactly the kind of growth Mercedes wants to see, and will undoubtedly be part of its considerations when it decides on Russell’s future for 2022. He is a free agent, as are Mercedes incumbents Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, the latter being the man he would surely replace should Wolff decide the time is right to cash in on his investment.
But where would that leave Williams? Robson does not mince his words, admitting it would be a “huge loss” for the team both on- and off-track.
“It’s been fantastic working with him, right from when we first put him through the evaluation,” Robson says. “It was obvious George had something about him, some genuinely outstanding talent to drive the car. And it’s been probably frustrating at times, but a great journey to be on with him.
“Of course he’d be a massive loss. I think we’ve all put in a lot of time and effort to help him where he needed a bit of help, to guide him, and it would be a real shame to lose that without really seeing the benefits of it in our car.”
CEO Jost Capito says he would “of course” hand Russell the multi-year deal he craves from 2022, should it be viable. “I think he would fit very well to Williams for our future as well,” Capito says. “If he believes in our future, there might be a chance to keep him.”
It is a future that Russell has helped forge for Williams. Steps such as the sale of the team and investment from Dorilton Capital has secured the team’s immediate future, but Russell’s role must be recognised. Robson agrees, saying he “can take a good amount of credit” for the team’s progress since hitting rock bottom at the start of 2019.
Williams may have a strong history for backing and cultivating young talent, giving the likes of Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Nico Hülkenberg, and Valtteri Bottas their starts. But to be the force that helps lift the team out of its hardest moments, acting as the catalyst in its revival, arguably makes Russell the most important of the bunch – even if he doesn’t stick around to enjoy the fruits of his labour.
“OF COURSE HE’D BE A MASSIVE LOSS. I THINK WE’VE ALL PUT IN A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT TO HELP HIM WHERE HE NEEDED A BIT OF HELP, TO GUIDE HIM, AND IT WOULD BE A REAL SHAME TO LOSE THAT WITHOUT REALLY SEEING THE BENEFITS OF IT IN OUR CAR”
DAVE ROBSON