RUSSELL’S STRONG YEAR

WHERE: IN FIA F2 WHEN: ALL SEASON Picking a defining moment for George Russell in 2018 is tough. Is it equaling the record number of wins in a Formula 2 season with seven, tying Charles Leclerc and Stoffel Vandoorne? Or perhaps joining the elite club of Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Nico Hulkenberg in drivers who have won Formula 2 in their debut season? Overcoming a tricky F2 car which threw reliability problems at him on multiple occasions? Or realising his life goal of reaching F1, signing with Williams? You see the problem with trying to pick one.

He spent the first half of the season plagued with reliability problems and having to watch golden boy Lando Norris steal all the headlines. But after a stunning run of form into mid-season and onwards, he was incredible. On average he finished a place higher in qualifying and in the feature races than any other driver and, erasing car issues, finished outside the top five once all year.

That kind of form got the Mercedes junior noticed and Williams came calling in late October, a Powerpoint to Paddy Lowe helping to push the deal over the line. A win at the first race in Abu Dhabi in F2 secured the title and less than a week later he was sat under a fitting halo, in the Williams F1 car, as an F1 driver. JB