George Russell Expecting a Decent Fight with Nicholas Latifi

Williams F1 driver George Russell is not going to underestimate rookie team-mate Nicholas Latifi. He believes that the Canadian will prove to be a tough opponent to beat.

12 months ago, Russell himself was a rookie driver, and showed up his returning team-mate Robert Kubica. He out-qualified the Polish driver 21-0, and finished ahead on 16 occasions. Despite his abundant talent, Russell warned against complacency and vowed not to brush off Latifi as an easy picking.

“You’re only as good as your last race so it’s a fresh start,” said Russell. “I think Nicholas is definitely very under-rated He’s incredibly prepared. He’s going to be a tough driver to beat, so he is going to keep me on my toes. I’ll be pushing.”

Nicholas Latifi is no stranger to F1, having taken part in 11 free practice sessions for Williams and Racing Point. In addition to that, he tested for Renault and the erstwhile Force India team.

George Russell has one eye on his teammate

George Russell admitted that in spite of being a rookie, Latifi has had a lot of preparation and won’t be going in blind. However, the British youngster declared that he would meet the challenge head on and is looking forward to battling the Canadian.

The 22-year old knows that he cannot afford to slack off in his second season in F1. This is because he wants to stay in the top flight of racing.

After the nightmare season in 2019, George Russell is downplaying Williams’s potential. His cautionary words came in spite of an encouraging start to testing.

However, he did admit that the car is much more driveable compared to last year. In fact, the FW43 instilled much more confidence compared to the 2019 season. Though he also mused that the car’s feeling does not matter. Instead, the real question should be, ‘Is is faster than last year?’