Autosport 2021 Top 50: #12 George Russell

His remonstration with Valtteri Bottas after their Imola crash was his low point, but George Russell bounced back brilliantly, quickly extending a Q1 escape run – which included Q3 berths at the Austrian GP and at Silverstone – that stretched to Hungary at the end of July.

His sensational Spa qualifying was the highlight as it secured his first F1 podium in the washout. Races were always harder for Williams since the car’s long-run pace was much slower, but Russell made excellent progress with tyre management, displayed best in France.

PLUS: How Russell left Mercedes with little real choice over his F1 promotion

He picked up emotional points in Hungary, plus Italy and Russia (where he also starred in the wet/dry Q3 to qualify third) too.

Engineer’s View: How Russell compares to Button and Hamilton

Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson explains how George Russell’s driving style compares to those of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton – Britain’s two most recent world champions. Robson worked at McLaren before joining Williams, and race-engineered Button between 2010 and 2014.

“I think Jenson and Lewis were quite different and George is his own in terms of their driving style. George is somewhere in between the two of them but I think to some extent that is about dealing with the tyres and they have changed – so I don’t know what Lewis’s style is these days. But the key thing is George is adaptable and he is quite instinctive and I think he will go on to improve. He’s got the talent that he needs. He has had a rough time with us, and some good times, and I think he will have learned quite a lot from that.

Q3 appearances were a regular feature of Russell's 2021, including on home ground at Silverstone

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

“But in terms of his style and his attitude he is right up there with those two guys. His work ethic and the way he brings the team together, and his ability and confidence to make decisions – they are all the real key things or the big differentiators. He has got the talent to drive the car. There are enough people out there who have the talent that he has, but he also has all that he needs to be able to do the extra bit to really get the most out of the team in the crucial and pressure moments to make the right decisions.

“What he’s still got to learn is just in terms of the ways the weekends pan out – obviously they’re quite different for Mercedes. Saturday particularly, but the whole race dynamic is different when you’re up at the sharp end.

“In terms of our 2021 championship, what happened in Spa was obviously good for us in terms of the points, but it would have been good for George to have a dry race on Sunday from the front row and have actually experienced what that was like. We would have had a worse result, I’m sure, but that probably would have been a good bit of learning for him.”