Comparison To Hamilton And Alonso Makes Russell Confident And He Explains Why

Monday, 19 August 2024 at 18:00

George Russell explained how comparing himself to World Champions like Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso gives him confidence.

Mercedes driver George Russell is currently 26 years old, driving his sixth season in Formula 1, and already has two victories (could have been three if he wasn't disqualified in Belgium) and 13 podiums to his name.

While some drivers on the grid would give anything to finish their careers with these achievements, Russell isn't particularly satisfied. He knows it could have been better if he had joined Mercedes in a different era.

The German team started struggling just as regulations changed, which was exactly at the same time when the Briton joined them.

Right now, the team is slowly making its way to the top again, but they won't compete for the title this year, and no one knows whether it will be possible in 2025 (next year) or even the year after that. Russell told The Times:

“"If these last three years was a different era, I potentially can have 20 wins, poles to my name and fighting for championships in all of these years."”

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On the other hand, when the 26-year-old looks around, he can see there are drivers that are 13 years older (Lewis Hamilton) or even 17 years older than him (Fernando Alonso), which means he still has some time.

“"My time will come. When I look at Fernando [Alonso] or Lewis, I think I've got a good 17 to 20 years left in me. We're all going to get our opportunity at some point."”

F1 is a sport where not every driver has an equal opportunity. The one with the best car will win most often, but Russell didn't have it for long. Nevertheless, he says he stays patient.

“"This is Max time. Max's era. There's no guarantee that he's going to be fighting every single year in the future. Who knows what's going to come next? I've just got to make sure I'm ready."”