The second race in Bahrain marked George Russell’s official Mercedes debut. He replaced Lewis Hamilton who tested positive for corona. The Williams driver managed to surprise and qualified second behind his new teammate Valtteri Bottas. He quickly took the lead in the race and was subsequently hit by bad luck twice. together with The Sportsman he looks back on the special weekend.
“It was incredible how it all came together last minute. I got a message on Wednesday night that it was finished and on Friday I was in the car. The weekend went perfectly until everything went wrong.”
Russell thinks his performance helped his career. “I approached it as a race that could not break my career, but could potentially make it. I think it was a big step towards a long Formula 1 career.”
The Brit thought he could win the race, but it shouldn’t be. “You believe in yourself as a driver, but until you win, some of it remains uncertain. You just don’t know. Where do you think Hamilton ended up in a Williams? The chance alone boosted my confidence.”
Russell has this season for the second year in a row Nicholas Latifi as his teammate last year, he outpaced the Canadian in both qualifying and the races.
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