Russell does not lose sight of P2: “Will it be a bitter pill for Ferrari’

With three races remaining this year, George Russell hasn’t missed a second place finish in the automakers. Red Bull certainly proved very strong in the second half of the season, but after Mercedes once again lost 14 points in America to the Scuderia, Russell is still hoping for a second place finish.

In a conversation with the American GQ Russell looks back intensely into his first season with the Silver Arrows. “Everyone expects you to win because you drive a Mercedes, these people are going to be disappointed. But I prefer to look at it from the positive side. We got the most out of it and I think I will have the opportunity to fight for championships here in the next five years,” said Russell.

A bitter pill for Ferrari

The Briton is very excited to overtake Ferrari this year and secure the second place among the automakers. The gap is still quite large, 53 points, but in America, the silver stocks – in part because of Carlos Sainz’s reversal – hit 14 points. With three races left it will be a difficult task, but certainly not an impossible task. “It would be a huge boost for us in light of 2023,” Russell added. “Ferrari had the fastest car in the field at the start of the season, and if we overtake it it will be a bitter pill for them.”

The fact that Sebastian Vettel and possibly Daniel Ricciardo will be leaving the sport is something that affected Russell: “Vetel is one of the greatest names in the history of the sport, besides Ricciardo is probably leaving us. Those are things we have to think about for a while, but that’s how it goes with every sport. People come and people go, but the sport goes on,” concludes Russell.