Russell Out-Performs Hamilton And Secures Second Place In Championship For Mercedes
F1Monday, 27 November 2023 at 02:00
George Russell reacted to his brilliant race result that helped Mercedes secure second place in the Constructors' Championship.
Mercedes F1 driver George Russell started the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from fourth position on the grid with a clear goal of outperforming Ferrari to protect Mercedes' second place in the Championship.
The 25-year-old managed to do so after finishing in P3, six positions from his teammate Lewis Hamilton in P9, and scoring his second podium of the season. The Mercedes driver told media in Abu Dhabi right after the race.
"That will mean a huge amount to so many people back at the factory and Brackley and Brixworth, who have worked so hard to achieve after a really challenging season."
Russell had a few setbacks throughout the season when he crashed during races like the Canadian Grand Prix or Singapore Grand Prix, which lost his team valuable points. Therefore, it feels great for the 25-year-old having taken a chance to redeem himself.
Russell also applauded the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc for "keeping it clean" and not backing him up on track even though he could have done it.
"I've let the side down a couple of times this year, so pleased to bring it across the line. It was tight with Checo at the end, I thought Charles is going to back me up but respect to him for keeping it clean."
Russell needed to finish right behind Leclerc, which he managed to achieve at the end of the race at Yas Marina Circuit. The 25-year-old described the "tense" last few laps of the race:
"I came out of the pits on a second set of Hard tires, but then Checo just came out of nowhere and had great pace. It was really tense at the end as the tires were dropping off, but just really pleased to have secured P2 for the team."
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