“A Bit of an Audacious Overtake Attempt”: George Russell Looks Back on Infamous F1 Moment That Could’ve Hurt Mercedes Entry

George Russell, the new Mercedes man, has been absolutely brilliant so far this season. The Brit has earned himself a nickname, Mr. Consistency, by finishing in the top 5 in every race so far. And what’s more commendable is he’s done it in a struggling Mercedes W13.

The young Brit replaced Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes for the 2022 season, a move that was anticipated by most of the F1 fraternity. However, it all could’ve gone sideways at Imola 2021, as Russell was being considered for the 2022 seat for quite some time.

Russell crashed into Bottas while trying to overtake the Finn using a wet line. Mercedes were fighting for the constructors’ championship and the collision did hurt their chances. This definitely didn’t paint the Brit in a good light! However, that was not at all what went through Russell’s head, initially.

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He reflected, “The one thing that went through my mind was I am in a Williams and we haven’t scored a point in however many races and years and that one overtake can be the difference between tenth and ninth in the constructors.”

He added, “Now in hindsight, seeing that it was Valtteri, seeing that it was a Mercedes, taking all the conditions into account and the fact that he had a far superior car to mine and probably would’ve overtaken me four laps later, it was a bit of an audacious overtake attempt.”

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The dedication Russell had for Williams is commendable, but this situation could’ve hurt Russell’s chances of the seat. He’d be glad it didn’t!

George Russell and Mercedes hoping for a better race at the British GP

Mercedes are bringing new upgrades to the British GP in an attempt to get closer to Ferrari and Red Bull. The W13 has really struggled on street tracks like Monaco, Miami, and Baku. However, with a decent record on smooth tracks like Barcelona, Mercedes is optimistic for Silverstone as well.

Russell has already finished in the top 5 all season and he could take it one step further at Silverstone. The technical director of Mercedes James Allison believes the circuit would “suit the car” as there is a sense of cautious optimism in the paddock.