Five years after joining Mercedes as a junior driver, George Russell is about to begin his first season as a full-time member of the reigning world champions’ team.
On the face of it, the leap from Williams, the team that finished last every season from 2018 to 2020, to the outfit which just won their eighth consecutive title, is enormous. But Russell’s long association with Mercedes has eased the transition, he explained last week.
“I’d say it’s been as I would expect from a world championship-winning outfit,” said Russell. “They are absolutely on top of every single detail and it’s so impressive to see.
“I guess I almost maybe took it for granted when I was a Formula 3 driver and a Mercedes F1 simulator driver, travelling around and seeing how they operate. But it’s so impressive from the simplest of things to the most technical things of the whole operation. I really do feel like I’m at home.”
He has the added benefit of having already driven for the team…