George Russell Reveals What’s Changed for Team After the Departure of Williams Family from F1

Williams had been struggling in Formula One for a while. They didn’t have the financial resources like the other teams and were struggling to score points. In 2020, news broke that the Williams family would let go of the ownership of the team to pave way for Dorilton Capital. George Russell feels the takeover came as a huge relief and they can now focus on racing rather than keep the team afloat.

In their first season after the takeover, the Grove-based team have continued to struggle in the back. The opening race in Bahrain didn’t go as planned, as Nicholas Latifi had to retire and Russell crossed the line fourteenth place. Hence, the team failed to score any points in the first race of the season.

The team now hope to improve for the race at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Russell and Latifi, yet again, are looking to make the most out of the car and bring home their first points of the season.

Williams’ main objective was to stay in Formula One, says George Russell

In an article by Autosport, Russell said, “The priority I guess in my whole time at Williams until Dorilton took over was keeping the team afloat, keeping people’s jobs alive, keeping the team alive, as opposed to trying to make the car go as fast as possible.”

George further stated, “The focus was just keeping the team in Formula 1, which was obviously actually a great thing to do, but we can now get back to fully focusing on the performance. It’s really exciting for everyone at Williams with Jost at the helm.”

Russell thinks that the team should improve for the race at Imola

Even though the team didn’t perform well at the Bahrain GP, the Briton is optimistic. They still have 22 races to go, and he believes that the team should be able to come back stronger in Imola.

In the post-race interview, Russell said, “It was nice to be racing. I had a good little tussle at the beginning, made a few places, lost a few places – I forgot how tricky it was right in that battle with all the cars surrounding you! But I thought it was a very well-executed.

“The first stint was tricky but I think the second and third stints were as good as can be and our relative pace was actually pretty strong. So that’s where we were this weekend and we need to reassess in Imola,” he concluded.

Can Williams find the pace around the track or will they still be chasing the rest of the pack? We shall soon get our answers over the upcoming weekend.

Also Read: Mercedes in the Same Boat as Williams, Concludes George Russell After Bahrain F1 Struggles