84 GP RACING MARCH 2020
last year, Russell chose a design thatwas half
his, half Montoya’s.
And there’s noproblem with posing by one
of Montoya’s old cars for pictures, despite the
BMW roundel on the nose. George may be
Mercedes-affiliated but this Williams gig is
hisgig. He earned the seat not just through
on-track performance – becoming Formula 2
champion in 2018 – but also bypushing every
other button he could to secure it, evensending
the team bigwigs a PowerPoint presentation to
sell himself. That’s perhaps a less bravura way of
announcing himself to a team that traditionally
favours shut-up-and-drive characters (Montoya,
for instance, caught the eye of Sir Frank
Williams by overtaking several rivals on the
grass in an F3000 race at Hockenheim), but it’s
entirely appropriate for a driver who blends a
cerebral approach off the track with a relentless,
controlled aggression on it.
You could be forgiven for missing this, though,
because he spent his rookie seasontoiling at
the back of the grid in theundercooked FW42,
without a single point to show for his efforts.
It was a bruising F1 baptism and George spent
the winter taking stock.
“I’ve had a good amount of time off,” he says.
“And it’s probably the first time I’ve wanted or
needed some time off. When you’re in Formula 2
or GP3 and you’re doing 12 races a year you just
want to keep going. But when
you getto F1 and it’s over 20
races a year, and you’ve got all
the marketing commitments
that go with it, and you’ve got
to stay fit for the duration,
you getto the end and feel
a bit puffed out.
“Plus, I had an additional
ten days in Abu Dhabi afterthe season doing tests, soby the end ofthat I
thought that I ought to have at least acouple of
weeks off – and I spent it at home with my
family! I didn’t fancy getting on another plane
or going to another hotel. My holiday was
staying at home...”
Time away from the F1 milieu hasenabled him
to reflect, review and identify a new perspective
on the events of the past 12 months – vital in his
new role asde factoteam leader, given that new
team-mate Nicholas Latifi has but a handful of F1
test days and practice sessions to speak of. It will
be Russell who bearsthe brunt of responsibility
for getting the most out of the car over a race
weekend; we’re speaking ahead of testing, before
the FW43 has turned a wheel, but whether or
not it represents a significant improvement over
its predecessor, maximising its potential will be
vital for Russell’s career development.
“You can getin su ch a rhythm duringthe
season that you sometimesmiss somebits an d
bobs,” he says. “Coming back into thefactoryat
the start of thisyear I was really seeing how we
as a tea m couldhave improved.Last year was
really greatfor me,in a sense, because I could go
out andtry a lot of things. Th ere wasn’t ahuge
amount of pressure frommy side. It wasa bizarr e
situation to be atthe back, fighting for nothing
week in, week out, butI took that situ ation and
turnedit in to a positive. I could take the timeto
develop asa driver.
“Having spenttwo an d a
half years watching Lewis
[Hamilton] from within [the
Mercedes organisation]
I knew I had to improve to get
to that level. I was constantly
challenging myself, finding
ways to become a faster
driver. UnderstandinghowRefreshedandraringto
go,Russellknowsthat
hehasnewresponsibilites
in2020astheteam’s
mostexperienceddriver“IT WAS A BIZARRE SITUATION
TO BE AT THE BACK, FIGHTING
FOR NOTHING WEEK IN, WEEK OUT,
BUT ITOOK THAT SITUATION AND
TURNED IT INTO A POSITIVE.
I COULDTAKE THE TIMETO
DEVELOPAS A DRIVER”2020 SEASON PREVIEW
84 GP RACING MARCH 2020
last year, Russell chose a design thatwas half
his, half Montoya’s.
And there’s noproblem with posing by one
of Montoya’s old cars for pictures, despite the
BMW roundel on the nose. George may be
Mercedes-affiliated but this Williams gig is
hisgig. He earned the seat not just through
on-track performance – becoming Formula 2
champion in 2018 – but also bypushing every
other button he could to secure it, evensending
the team bigwigs a PowerPoint presentation to
sell himself. That’s perhaps a less bravura way of
announcing himself to a team that traditionally
favours shut-up-and-drive characters (Montoya,
for instance, caught the eye of Sir Frank
Williams by overtaking several rivals on the
grass in an F3000 race at Hockenheim), but it’s
entirely appropriate for a driver who blends a
cerebral approach off the track with a relentless,
controlled aggression on it.
You could be forgiven for missing this, though,
because he spent his rookie seasontoiling at
the back of the grid in theundercooked FW42,
without a single point to show for his efforts.
It was a bruising F1 baptism and George spent
the winter taking stock.
“I’ve had a good amount of time off,” he says.
“And it’s probably the first time I’ve wanted or
needed some time off. When you’re in Formula 2
or GP3 and you’re doing 12 races a year you just
want to keep going. But when
you getto F1 and it’s over 20
races a year, and you’ve got all
the marketing commitments
that go with it, and you’ve got
to stay fit for the duration,
you getto the end and feel
a bit puffed out.
“Plus, I had an additional
ten days in Abu Dhabi afterthe season doing tests, soby the end ofthat I
thought that I ought to have at least acouple of
weeks off – and I spent it at home with my
family! I didn’t fancy getting on another plane
or going to another hotel. My holiday was
staying at home...”
Time away from the F1 milieu hasenabled him
to reflect, review and identify a new perspective
on the events of the past 12 months – vital in his
new role asde factoteam leader, given that new
team-mate Nicholas Latifi has but a handful of F1
test days and practice sessions to speak of. It will
be Russell who bearsthe brunt of responsibility
for getting the most out of the car over a race
weekend; we’re speaking ahead of testing, before
the FW43 has turned a wheel, but whether or
not it represents a significant improvement over
its predecessor, maximising its potential will be
vital for Russell’s career development.
“You can getin su ch a rhythm duringthe
season that you sometimesmiss somebits an d
bobs,” he says. “Coming back into thefactoryat
the start of thisyear I was really seeing how we
as a tea m couldhave improved.Last year was
really greatfor me,in a sense, because I could go
out andtry a lot of things. Th ere wasn’t ahuge
amount of pressure frommy side. It wasa bizarr e
situation to be atthe back, fighting for nothing
week in, week out, butI took that situ ation and
turnedit in to a positive. I could take the timeto
develop asa driver.
“Having spenttwo an d a
half years watching Lewis
[Hamilton] from within [the
Mercedes organisation]
I knew I had to improve to get
to that level. I was constantly
challenging myself, finding
ways to become a faster
driver. UnderstandinghowRefreshedandraringto
go,Russellknowsthat
hehasnewresponsibilites
in2020astheteam’s
mostexperienceddriver“IT WAS A BIZARRE SITUATION
TO BE AT THE BACK, FIGHTING
FOR NOTHING WEEK IN, WEEK OUT,
BUT ITOOK THAT SITUATION AND
TURNED IT INTO A POSITIVE.
I COULDTAKE THE TIMETO
DEVELOPAS A DRIVER”2020 SEASON PREVIEW