Russell: The workload at Mercedes was a shock to the body

George Russell spent his fourth season in Formula 1 and first with Mercedes. The British driver said he did not expect the pressures associated with participating in advertising and sponsorship events from Mercedes partners to affect his performance.

George Russell: “It took me a lot of time to work off the track. Every day of marketing promotions is a day of gym training or a day of recovery to keep you fit for the next race.

The heavy marketing load has certainly taken its toll. I have yet to figure out how to handle this because sometimes this year I haven’t always been able to do it.

If you count the days I spent outside racing at work last season, not in the simulator and not in the base, you get 60 days. Two months away from the circuit, two months of flying and nights in hotels. Of course, this is inevitable for a Mercedes driver, but for the body, such a load was a shock. Add to that 21 or 22 races that didn’t always work out, and you see I felt quite depressed at times. But I did it and in Brazil I had the best weekend of the season, so I’m happy with myself.”

George Russell was ahead of Lewis Hamilton at the end of the season, but the Briton admitted he had to rethink his attitude to racing and abandon the youthful maximalism that characterized him in the early stages of his career.

“I wasn’t worried about playing for the same team with Lewis, but I had to find inner harmony,” continues Russell. – If you look at the performance stats, in the last five years before joining Mercedes, I was better than teammates in 95% of the cases. So I’m used to a certain amount of advantage, but in the case of Lewis, the 55/45 advantage is still an incredible success.

Psychologically, I had to prepare myself for minor failures. I wouldn’t be ahead of my partner in every session, every qualifying and every race, because it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. I don’t know what numbers I had this year, maybe only 55/45, but I consider the season incredibly successful, as results like that are quite comparable to the 95% lead I had in the past.

I never doubted myself, believed in myself, but this is a certain kind of thinking. If you prepare yourself that I should be ahead of Lewis 95% of the time, then disappointments with this attitude are simply inevitable.

In every race I strive for the maximum – it doesn’t matter if it’s a win, like in Brazil, or last place, like in Williams. If the first race of next season proves that our car is capable of winning, my approach will not deviate from that. I believe I have already gained enough experience and am ready to fight for the title, able to handle all the difficulties and challenges along the way.

Of course Lewis and Max Verstappen have a lot more experience, but if you start every race from pole and win every race, then you become champion. It’s important to focus on the little things and the things you can influence.”