Autosport Plus

Why Russell's Mercedes F1 dream hinges on perfection

This week's Autosport magazine cover asks if George Russell is Mercedes' next F1 star. In an exclusive interview, he explains why he can't afford to put a foot wrong to be considered and why he must keep doing his talking on the track

Alex Kalinauckas Aug 28, 2020, 3:37 PM

"It's just getting [to be] a joke at the moment. I've never been so inconsistent in my life. You look at the lap charts and you'd think I'm a bloody rookie or whatever. I felt like I was driving very similar lap after lap and it was like a yo-yo. I felt like an idiot. We need to seriously pull our fingers out."

The most remarkable thing about George Russell's stark words to Williams during a debrief at the 2019 British Grand Prix - immortalised in the ninth episode of the second series of Netflix's Drive to Survive - is that, in Formula 1 terms at least, he was a rookie.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.