Quote:
Originally Posted by Plantagenet
Shall we move back to the point about Russell? Apologies if previously mentioned, but just my thoughts.
I think we all agree he had an underwhelming 23' season, but i personally feel he had a strong 22' season with Mercedes's only win and outscoring Hamilton.
And, by my recollection, the only other drivers in F1 to outscore Hamilton over a season were Alonso, Button and Rosberg. And, of course, there were all former WDCs or in Rosberg's case, won the WDC that season.
Fully appreciate the 22' season was slightly odd with the rule change but that was true for both drivers at Mercedes. So, I personally feel that Russell has done enough for the team to pivot behind him this year as the potential leader in 25'.....but the pressure now is firmly on and if anything, that seemed to be his undoing last year. We'll see!
|
George Russell won the F2 title in his rookie year. In a field that included Lando Norris and Alex Albon. (And Latifi and Devries) He also won 7 races which is the same as Leclerc did in his rookie F2 title year. Russell is absolutely elite and the reason why Mercedes weren't offering Hamiton more than 2 years.
Russell got a win and 19 top 5's in his first year at Mercedes. Yet it seems to count for nothing for a lot of ppl because of 2023. He already proved himself in 2022. And even in 2023, he beat hamiton in qualifying. They ended up tied for GP qualifying. But Russell out paced him in sprint qualifying which is as fair of a tie breaker as anything