by George Russell looked top of the timesheets in the first practice of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina on Friday, but for a scrappy second session in which crashes and red flags dampened any momentum he had, almost summed up his season. It never really went away.
This time last year the 25-year-old from King’s Lynn arrived in Abu Dhabi fresh from his first, and so far only Formula One win, in Brazil. With a great first season at Mercedes, after a big move from Williams, he had bested the most successful F1 driver of all time in Lewis Hamilton, making him a future world champion.
This season was more difficult work. Going into Sunday’s race, Russell Hamilton trails in the championship by 72 points, a significant margin. He already knows he can’t improve on eighth place in the standings.
It seems like a classic case of second season syndrome; more pressure after that critically acclaimed first album, more scrutiny, more mistakes. Russell, however, rejects any suggestion that he has succumbed to the weight of expectation, or even that his levels have diminished. He struggles to put his finger on exactly what has changed.
“I wouldn’t call it bad luck,” he says firmly. “I have always said and believed that you make your own luck. But I’ve never had a season where I’ve missed so many opportunities let’s say.”
‘It’s crazy that I only have one podium this year’
Russell sits back in the Mercedes motorhome in Abu Dhabi and sighs. “Last year was a simple launch,” he says. “I wouldn’t say there was anything special. It felt like a pretty normal season. But one thing has happened this year after another… And I think you might have one opportunity, or two opportunities that you missed.
“But when you start seven, or eight, or nine missed opportunities, that’s something I have to look at and question because if I had a smooth season like I had last year we could be on the podium eight or nine -once this year. Instead we are sitting here now with one podium of my name. And I feel like that’s crazy.”
Russell may not believe in bad luck, but there is no doubt that he has had his share of bad luck; the blown engine in Melbourne that cost him a possible victory; making it too late to qualify in Budapest and retire in Q1 when the car was fast enough to take pole; being left out too long in the rain in Zandvoort; Hamilton’s first corner incident in Qatar for which his teammate took “100 per cent” responsibility.
But he has also undoubtedly made errors; the final crash in Singapore, which he describes as the “lowest point of the season”; the incident with Max Verstappen in Las Vegas last weekend for which the Englishman received a five-second penalty.
“There were a few small incidents,” he says. “Nothing major, but they happened. They did not happen in previous years. I must try to understand why that is.
“It’s not pressure. I don’t care if I have the greatest driver of all time in the garage next to me, or if I’m a one-man team. It doesn’t change the way I approach my job. There was definitely no added pressure.”
Impatience then? Pushing too hard when the car isn’t there and then making a mistake, either strategically or in terms of driver error? “Maybe,” he said. “I think we sometimes focused too much on setting up a race, which cost us in terms of qualifying pace. With the field tighter this season with McLaren and Aston in it, that could mean dropping four or five places.
“I also had a new race engineer this year. Rice [Riccardo Musconi] got promoted last year, and Marcus [Dudley] and I’ve built a really good relationship over these races, but that takes time to build.”
‘I’m up against the greatest driver ever’
Russell says he has heart for his speed, which has remained consistently strong. “I was on Lewis’ level, on average, during this year,” he said. “And I’m not happy to be on his level. I want to be ahead of him. But I also have to be realistic.
“I’m going up against the greatest driver of all time. It’s certainly not a bad benchmark. And, you know, I consider quali statistics, if you include sprint races, we are exactly the same. And speed-wise, we are generally the same too.
“So there are positives. And to be honest I would rather be sitting here without the results, but with the speed. Rather than saying ‘Oh, we got lucky with a result here or we got lucky with a result there’ when I was actually a tenth of the speed.”
The question remains though, even if Russell gets his act together next year, can Mercedes provide him with a car that can fight for race wins? Russell, as one might expect, sounds optimistic.
“I definitely think we’re in a better place now than we were 12 months ago,” he says. “We have been working towards our new car concept for several months. We’ve cross-checked everything 1,000 times, and we’re all very confident. There is no doubt that Red Bull will start the season on top. But it’s a long season. It starts earlier than ever and ends later than ever. Things can change.
“For my part, I’m excited. I feel good in myself. And next year is a clean slate for everyone. Hopefully there will be a season where I can perform and get the results like I did in 2022, or at least maximize the results like I did in 2022. My confidence has not been taken into account at all.”
