Mercedes lauds George Russell's 'big step up' from former team Williams in 2022 F1 season

Mercedes strategy chief James Vowles has lauded George Russell for an impressive step up from Williams this season. The young driver drove for Williams for the first three years of his career. During that time as well, he made his name by being very consistent and having some blistering qualifying laps.

In a standout performance, Russell's blistering pace in the wet in the 2021 F1 Belgian GP qualifying helped him secure a P2 result that converted to an equivalent position for Williams in the race. He has similarly continued his brilliant form in Mercedes as well, having scored his first pole position and his first win with the team. As a cherry on top, Russell outscored his veteran Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton over the course of the season.

Speaking about the performance of the newcomer, James Vowles said in a Mercedes season debrief video:

"Irrespective of his qualifying pace, his race pace was very, very strong throughout the year. That's really what we were looking for: 'How does he fit into our environment? How does he fit into the team? How does he work with Lewis? How does he work with everyone else?' In all of those he did an incredibly good job, it was a big step up for him from Williams. I think where Williams operated is obviously a very high level, but where we operate is a little bit different to that. He adapted very quickly and very well."

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He is against the best in the world: Mercedes on George Russell

Explaining the task at hand for the youngster, James Vowles talked about how George Russell was getting judged against Lewis Hamilton and how he did a great job on that front. He said:

"George did a very good job this year, he is against the best in the world and that's your reference. What is very clear is that at the beginning of the year when we had a car that was difficult, Lewis was using his wealth of experience to help us in order to improve the car and really move us forward. In that period, George was just really focussed on learning, embedding himself into the team and he scored a number of results really that benefitted him as a result of that."

Russell's first season with the team was very impressive. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact he can make in the title battle next season.