George Russell: Deserving… before winning
George Russell seized his chance: he took advantage of the tangle between Verstappen and Norris to win in Austria on Sunday. He tells us all about his victory and his emotions in a press conference just after the race. Not without emotion...
A few minutes after his champagne shower, George Russell was back in the press room on the Spielberg side in Austria. The Mercedes driver was all smiles. And for good reason, who would have imagined finding him victorious, just an hour before? He himself didn’t really believe it:
« It’s amazing. It was tough at the beginning of the race, I was just fighting to keep that third place. Then I saw on the screens that Max and Lando were fighting hard. I knew Lando would try to win this race… You know, the team did an incredible job to put me in this situation. You had to be there in the end to pick up the pieces, and that’s where we were.
Toto shouted at me on the radio: “You can win!”
This victory, the first of the year for Mercedes, does a lot of good for the team… and certainly for Toto Wolff. At the moment of the collision between the 2 race leaders, the team’s director could not control himself:
« Suddenly, Toto shouted to me on the radio: « You can win! ». I almost crashed when he shouted in my ears. It was so intense as emotion. I think it shows the passion we all share. These last years have been tough on us. It’s great to be back on the top step of the podium.
Mercedes is establishing itself more than ever as the 3rd force on the grid behind Red Bull and McLaren. The Silver Arrows even had the potential to win in Canada at the beginning of June. A certain Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1976 said: “Life is happiness, deserve it“. Mercedes probably had to deserve it before winning:
« I think that Montreal was probably a victory that we missed: we ultimately finished 3rd. Today, we deserved a 3rd place and we won the victory. It’s funny to see the paradox of this sport.
Another brilliant performance at Silverstone?
The British team is riding the wave for a few weeks according to its pilot. And the next meeting of the drivers will take place across the Channel, at Silverstone next week. The Mercedes team will arrive at this home Grand Prix full of confidence:
« You’re always dreaming, that’s for sure. Anything can happen. Red Bull was very quick this weekend in the high-speed corners. So they will be strong next week at Silverstone. But we still have a few days until then. I’ll be back at the factory on Tuesday, on the simulator. I’m really excited for this home Grand Prix. »
