George Russell is hoping that the Williams lessons he picked up can help him succeed at Mercedes when he starts racing for them.
After a year of hype, rumours and discussions, Russell will join Mercedes at the beginning of the 2022 season. He will partner seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, so the pressure is well and truly on him.
The Englishman is making the greatest of leaps as he moves from the slow Williams to the uber-fast Mercedes. Even though he has driven with the German team once, doing it and performing well on a season-long basis is a different matter.
As a result, Russell is hoping that the Williams lessons he picked up can help him succeed at Mercedes.
“I think I’m pretty grateful for the difficulties that I’ve faced on the track throughout these years because quite often when you get in a faster car and a car that is more complete, things just naturally feel easier,” he said, as quoted by GPFans.
“For us, we’ve had so many limitations, whether it’s been trying to get the tyres in the right window, the brakes in the right window, following other cars has been incredibly difficult really fighting and battling to hold on for positions.
“When a car is faster, often everything seems good. The strategy is always good if the car is fast. You start becoming luckier. These things start falling your way and I think, I feel, more of a rounded driver because of this.”
New surroundings, old experience
“I often talk with my trainer about building this toolbox of experience and knowledge that I’m sure, throughout my Formula 1 career, I’m never going to have a car that’s the quickest year after year or the best year after year,” he continued.
“But, if I do have a car that’s very difficult to drive, I’ve had these experiences that I can just go back into the toolbox and remember what I experienced prior to 2019 or these last few years.
“So, I feel pretty fortunate to have had this.”