Sakhir heartbreak when subbing for Lewis Hamilton taught George Russell an important lesson

The 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix witnessed George Russell as a sub for Lewis Hamilton, who had just tested positive for COVID-19. Marking his debut with Mercedes, the young and hungry Briton drove a sensational race that, however, came to a devastating end because of errors that were out of the driver's control. The 23-year-old has recently revealed the lessons he learned from this experience.

As reported by Crash, Russell reflected on the race, saying:

“I think people who have it easy throughout their career, throughout their life, when they do face these disappointments, they struggle to deal with it, and probably aren’t able to bounce back as quickly.”

Adding on to that, he said:

“And that’s why I’m grateful that I’ve been in this position on a number of occasions, to make me more resilient. I would have loved to have won that race [Sakhir 2020], but that’s not what I want my career to be remembered by. I believe that race in Bahrain, losing that victory, will make me a stronger driver.”

The debutant qualified 0.026s behind Valtteri Bottas and managed to take the lead on the very first lap of the race. Tragedy struck for Mercedes on lap 63 of the race when both cars went into the pits for fresh tires.

On top of the ridiculously slow stops for both, it turned out that the cars had a mixed set of tires. Not only did Russell lose time in pitting again, but a rear left puncture on lap 79 made any chances of a podium finish for the Englishman simply dwindle. Despite his heartbreaking Silver Arrows debut, Russell certainly made an impression and has secured his seat in the team for 2022 partnering Lewis Hamilton.

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"You live in constant fear" - Lewis Hamilton on COVID-19

Lewis Hamilton contracted coronavirus in December 2020 and missed the Sakhir Grand Prix as a consequence. While regulations regarding the virus are gradually starting to ease, Hamilton is still conscious of social distancing amid fears of contracting the virus again.

As reported by Autoweek, the seven-time world champion revealed his thoughts on the virus at the time, saying:

“I am still at home alone, but thanks to the experience from the previous year, this can now be managed a little better. But you live in constant fear.”

Lewis Hamilton urged people to keep the pandemic in the back of their minds, for it was easier to be careless and in trouble now, with the relaxation of the rules in some areas.

Having missed out on some iconic circuits in the past two years due to the pandemic, F1 is set to return to Australia, Singapore, and Japan in 2022.