George Russell fires warning to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen with ambitious comment
Mercedes newcomer George Russell has laid down the gauntlet to teammate Lewis Hamilton and 2021 title winner Max Verstappen by insisting the world championship is in his sights. Russell is set to race alongside boyhood idol and seven-time world champion Hamilton when he represents the Silver Arrows in 2022.
The Brit has plenty of goals he wants to achieve in what will likely be an illustrious career.
The 23-year-old is incredibly ambitious though, and has set his sights on not just podiums and winning races but securing the world championship claimed by Red Bull’s Verstappen in dramatic circumstances at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“Obviously I want to be a winner, I want to be a world champion and we spent the whole time at the back of the grid,” Russell told Crash.net
“2020 was a stronger year but it wasn’t enough for us. 2021 was a stronger year but it was never enough.
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“When I got into Q2 for the first time, we celebrated a lot. When you do that a second and a third time, that wears off, you want to get to Q3.
“When you are in Q3, we celebrated a lot and we were excited. But then you want to be in Q3 at every other event, or every event.
“Until you are world champion, it’s never enough.
“For me, obviously, if you were to give me a choice; would I prefer to be last or P10, I would say P10. But it’s not a linear progression. I’m still learning my trade and if I’m P10, I’m still not world champion, so I’m not overly fussed.”
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The upcoming 2022 F1 season will be the biggest of Russell’s career after he swapped Williams for Mercedes.
He spent three years at the British outfit and attracted attention with some stunning performances despite the uncompetitive machinery he piloted.
The new season will not be the first time Russell has set foot in a Mercedes. When Hamilton was ruled out of the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, Russell was handed the opportunity to prove himself as he stepped up to Mercedes for a one-off stand-in appearance.
Russell appeared set to win the race before tyre issues derailed the fine driver, condemning the Brit to a P9 finish – but he insists the disappointments will drive to greater things in the future.
“It wasn’t just the Mercedes experience, but there were other experiences as well, and dealing with and bouncing back from disappointment is part of life and part of competitive sport,” he added.
“You know a championship isn’t won or lost in one race, it’s won over the course of a season. You will always have disappointing race weekends, you’ll have failures, you’ll have success. But if you don’t bounce back from those disappointments, you are only going to compromise yourself and your team for the remaining races.
“So accepting those disappointments, learning from it, and equally just moving on and going from there.”
The 23-race 2022 campaign begins on 18-20 March, with winter testing for the all-new generation of cars underway from 23 February.
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