Williams F1 Stint a ‘Blessing in Disguise’: George Russell

George Russell will enter his third season in F1 and will continue with bottom-fielders Williams for the 2021 season. Moreover, he’s in the interesting position of his Mercedes contract winding down at the end of the 2021 season. This leaves him in a state of flux concerning his future in F1 beyond 2021. He, however, is focused on rewarding Williams for their faith this year and is not dwelling too much on the future.

The young Brit will be hoping his patience of learning the ropes at lowly Williams will get rewarded by Mercedes and they would soon allow him to race in the fastest car on the F1 grid. However, the 23-year-old will first aim to guide the FW43B of Williams to a few points finishes in 2021.

George Russell hopes he can reward Williams’ faith in him

In an interview, George Russell opened up about his hopes of learning from the disappointments of 2020 and working on them this year. He said, “2020 taught me that fighting for championships and victories in the future is going to be mentally much tougher than what I had to endure finishing at the back of the grid for the last two years.

“So those experiences have been a blessing in disguise, I think in the long term, 10, 15 years I’ll look back and I’ll say, ‘I wouldn’t change any of those for the world’.”

Russell hopes that he can help guide Williams to a better future after the team’s faith in him. He said, “The motivation, the spirit, and the morale is being boosted. I think everybody can see a light at the end of the tunnel. With the arrival of Jost, with the new investors, with the deal that Mercedes have in place for 2022 and beyond, things are heading in that right direction for the team.

“When you look back six months, eight months or so, the team may not have even been on the grid. So, I’m personally excited for the team. But on the flip side, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s going to take a bit of time to turn the course of the ship.”

Can the Englishman gift Williams in 2021?

George Russell is hoping to help guide the car to few more points finishes in 2021. The team has accumulated a total of eight points across the past three seasons; the Englishman would be looking to right that wrong and get past that haul in the 2021 season.

While the car is the worst on the grid, it looks likely to be better at certain circuits. Williams will be hoping the new ownership and management structure will propel the team to future successes; 2021 could be the start of their long climb to the top of F1.