New Mercedes driver George Russell revealed his worst day in F1, saying he took away some harsh lessons from it.
Russell has had some stellar days in his F1 career. However, he has also had some terrible days, with one of them being the 2020 Emilia Romagna GP.
The Englishman was on course for his first points in F1. However, the race entered a Safety Car period. The then Williams driver lost control of his car behind it and spun off into the wall.
Russell revealed that the day at Imola was his worst day in F1, saying he got a massive reality check after his crash.
In a video interview discussing his time with Williams as quoted by Planet F1, the 23-year-old can be seen watching a replay of that incident. He said, “That was a dark day. That was a day I learned how brutal a Formula 1 car is.
“When you’ve got 1,000 brake horsepower underneath your right foot, you’re gone in a second and you can’t even control it. I hit a bump just as I was accelerating and the car just went. Within a second I was in the wall.
“I was in P10 at the time, we had obviously not scored any points…I was pretty mortified with myself. I felt like I had massively let the whole team down.”
Stronger in adversity
“Without a doubt I grew as a person,” he added.
“In an ideal world you want an easy path, you want things to come to you naturally.
“I’m so passionate about racing and that was probably one of the biggest mistakes I had personally made ever, but it made me stronger and more resilient.”