George Russell admitted he was “trying too hard” at times during his first season with Mercedes last year and says he has “definitely still room to improve”.
Russell out-scored his seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, and claimed Mercedes’ only grand prix victory of 2022 at Interlagos. However he sees plenty of room for improvement in his own performances.
“The things that I learned most from always were those difficult races and of races that, let’s say relatively speaking, failed or underperformed,” Russell told media including RaceFans at the launch of the team’s new car today.
“Looking back on those races, I would say most of the reasons were from trying too hard. And that was a big lesson I learned, that sometimes the harder you try and the more you push, sometimes the result isn’t better.”
He admitted pushing too hard in some races last season. “You’ve got to be very disciplined with yourself sometimes in your approach of knowing how hard to push yourself.
“It’s the same if you went to the gym every single day and was doing maximum bench presses every single day, at one point you’re probably going to injure yourself. It’s not the most efficient way to get stronger.
“That’s representative of racing. If you go out there and you drive the thing in anger, pushing it beyond the limit every single lap, that is not the fastest way to drive. Those races were probably validation for me,” Russell added.
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Knowing he has improvements to make in his own driving has motivated Russell for the season ahead. “I think the great thing with Formula 1 and this sport is it’s constantly evolving and it’s a new challenge every single year,” he said.
“There’s definitely still room to improve, and I feel that fills me with confidence because I still felt like I performed at a very, very high level. Even though I know that I’ve got a lot more in my pocket.”
Despite finishing ahead of his team mate in last year’s world championship, Russell says there are still areas he needs to raise his game to match Hamilton.
“I think the main one is probably just the tyre management,” he explained. “It’s something Lewis is very good at, maximising the stints and getting the most out of the tyres across a stint.
“That year under my belt being team mates with him, seeing some of his traits, it’s been really, really…
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