George Russell
Discussion
budgie smuggler said:
Martin315 said:
How deluded is GR? One lucky win and suddenly he claims he would had 20 wins and be fighting for the championship in a different era.
This 'lucky win' thing is a bit unfair He qualified well, ahead of Checo, Piastri in faster cars and his team mate and both Ferraris. In the race he avoided getting passed by his team mate with a smart move in the first couple of laps, then drove the rest flawlessly to be in a position to capitalise on Max and Lando crashing out.
Before the race he even said that was his game plan in an interview.
Will be interesting to see if he can develop and fine tune a car when it is all on his shoulders, maybe unfair but I think Lewis, along with the engineers, has been doing all the donkey work in sorting the current car.
Edited by budgie smuggler on Thursday 4th July 09:25
groomi said:
In the middle we have Verstappen who clearly knows how to race for a championship
After that silliness with Norris last week, I'm not convinced he does. He is more than quick and aggressive enough, but he's a stubborn hot-head. I mean sure, defend the place robustly, but why risk taking yourself out when it's clear he's much faster and you could take an easy second. It reminded me of when he crashed into Ocon who was quicker at that point and trying to unlap himself.
budgie smuggler said:
why risk taking yourself out when it's clear he's much faster and you could take an easy second.
Because if he takes out someone who is (albeit a distant) second in the championship he helps his own championship-the points gap remains the same but the chance to win points diminishes for his competitor.He played it like a dream in 2021 against Hamilton. This time he got even luckier, his competitor retired and he was able to continue and score extra points.
isaldiri said:
While piastri has done pretty well since arriving at McLaren and has a very strong junior formula career to back him up, I'm not sure why there seems to be quite that much confidence that he is 'definitely the real deal' at times. He's consistently proven a good bit slower than Norris so at the moment, if one terms him as 'very impressive', his teammate that is outperforming him should be considered doubly so.....
Only his second season against a very quick experienced driver.I think one of his best qualities is his calmness while driving. Never gets angry or flustered on the radio. Can pull out a very quick single lap. Just needs to be better with tyres and race pace consistency.
Some journo called him a silent assassin which suit him well I think.
SoulGlo said:
Only his second season against a very quick experienced driver.
I think one of his best qualities is his calmness while driving. Never gets angry or flustered on the radio. Can pull out a very quick single lap. Just needs to be better with tyres and race pace consistency.
Some journo called him a silent assassin which suit him well I think.
I agree piastri does come across as very calm and unflustered which is quite remarkable for his experience but again, how much does a driver getting all wound up and ranty on the radio matter? Hamilton/Alonso/Verstappen all can and do get quite tetchy at times after all. The issue for piastri is that he’s slower and sometimes a lot slower in races than his teammate - he’s got to be starting to close that gap regardless of how well Norris is doing as you’re always compared to your teammate….I think one of his best qualities is his calmness while driving. Never gets angry or flustered on the radio. Can pull out a very quick single lap. Just needs to be better with tyres and race pace consistency.
Some journo called him a silent assassin which suit him well I think.
Forester1965 said:
He's been racing at a high level in Europe for 8 years. He should be calm and unflustered driving a racing car.
Yes but there have been some radio calls from him that show he is level headed. For example there was a situation where someone nearly sliced his front wing off and the engineer asked for something trying to get a rise for the Stewards and he just said something like "yeah that seemed a bit naughty".. Other drivers (and their TPs) might have been suggesting the guy was a f***ng idiot, tried to kill me etc.etc Not read all the thread so this might of been mentioned before... I'm starting to warm to George, I feel he is getting quicker and quicker both in 1 lap and race distance, in earlier seasons I felt apart from Hamilton he was the only one who would not be intimidated by Max.
Also how must he feel when gets his first win... Yep great fantastic... but when Lando won his first race the media went on and on about it... Lando even turned up on This Morning!! Maybe the Mclaren media machine is just better than Mercs or maybe the cheeky chappy personality of Lando just appeals more to people.
Whatever the reasons it looks like George is never going to be as popular as Lando or Lewis so he needs to just let his driving do the talking.
He has the talent, he just needs to keep the focus or else if by chance Max takes Lewis' seat or even Kimi he can't afford drop to the teams number 2 driver.
Also how must he feel when gets his first win... Yep great fantastic... but when Lando won his first race the media went on and on about it... Lando even turned up on This Morning!! Maybe the Mclaren media machine is just better than Mercs or maybe the cheeky chappy personality of Lando just appeals more to people.
Whatever the reasons it looks like George is never going to be as popular as Lando or Lewis so he needs to just let his driving do the talking.
He has the talent, he just needs to keep the focus or else if by chance Max takes Lewis' seat or even Kimi he can't afford drop to the teams number 2 driver.
Years before joining F1, Norris already had a bigger profile than Russel and Albon who joined the same time. I even remember him being interviewed in Ginetta Juniors, and commented at the time how well the next generation of pro drivers are coached for media duties. I don’t know if it’s because he has a better PR machine, or he’s just a natural ‘media darling’.
SpudLink said:
Years before joining F1, Norris already had a bigger profile than Russel and Albon who joined the same time. I even remember him being interviewed in Ginetta Juniors, and commented at the time how well the next generation of pro drivers are coached for media duties. I don’t know if it’s because he has a better PR machine, or he’s just a natural ‘media darling’.
Some of it is just the differences in natural charisma. David Coulthard was coached in media skills long before he made it to F1 but was never as popular with fans or press as Damon Hill or Johnny Herbert because he was viewed as being a bit dull.ralphrj said:
SpudLink said:
Years before joining F1, Norris already had a bigger profile than Russel and Albon who joined the same time. I even remember him being interviewed in Ginetta Juniors, and commented at the time how well the next generation of pro drivers are coached for media duties. I don’t know if it’s because he has a better PR machine, or he’s just a natural ‘media darling’.
Some of it is just the differences in natural charisma. David Coulthard was coached in media skills long before he made it to F1 but was never as popular with fans or press as Damon Hill or Johnny Herbert because he was viewed as being a bit dull.HTP99 said:
ralphrj said:
SpudLink said:
Years before joining F1, Norris already had a bigger profile than Russel and Albon who joined the same time. I even remember him being interviewed in Ginetta Juniors, and commented at the time how well the next generation of pro drivers are coached for media duties. I don’t know if it’s because he has a better PR machine, or he’s just a natural ‘media darling’.
Some of it is just the differences in natural charisma. David Coulthard was coached in media skills long before he made it to F1 but was never as popular with fans or press as Damon Hill or Johnny Herbert because he was viewed as being a bit dull.When Russell exited his car and ran towards the wreck of a car of JGY I'm sure that was him running because he genuinely cares and is a good guy.
Or when he was at Williams and recognised that the team could maximise their points by sacrificing his race in order to help propel his team mate, a selfless decision he made while piloting his car with limited information.
If GR wasn't a race car driver and wanted to be in F1, I can totally see him in a Race Engineer or maybe even team principal role. He's got a calm air about him which I think can make rational decisions, but still very capable of empathy.
HTP99 said:
Also I should imagine you can have too much media coaching to the point you just come across as a corporate robot, however no matter how much media training you have you can't fake your real personality, it will come through regardless and Lando just comes across far more natural and I guess a bit vulnerable too, George is a bit robotic and corporate but I should imagine that is just his personality too; a bit dull.
I think many of them are well trained, but also they build layers of defence. Their actual personality is often quite different once away from the media? vaud said:
I think many of them are well trained, but also they build layers of defence. Their actual personality is often quite different once away from the media?
I've often thought that in the rare occasions Hamilton stops being the product he's being asked to be, he temporarily comes across as really likeable. I'm sure that F1 drivers, like people in all professions are different when in and out of work.Some Gump said:
I've often thought that in the rare occasions Hamilton stops being the product he's being asked to be, he temporarily comes across as really likeable. I'm sure that F1 drivers, like people in all professions are different when in and out of work.
I've met a few F1 drivers in more private events (e.g. a lunch with only a handful of guests and they have been quite different. Some have brilliant senses of humour, which is even more remarkable when you consider that English is often their second or third language.cuprabob said:
Not sure Bottas would agree 
He was a tool that day, but let’s not make that the defining moment! That said, I do think George is bit of a knob, can’t quite put my finger on it and fully accept it’s based on my own personal prejudice, before anyone wades in. He’s a fine driver in my view and will no doubt be a key player alongside Norris, Verstappen, Piastri and possibly CLC in years to come. If I owned a team Piastri would be my pick of the current crop.
Blue62 said:
cuprabob said:
Not sure Bottas would agree
He was a tool that day, but let’s not make that the defining moment! That said, I do think George is bit of a knob, can’t quite put my finger on it and fully accept it’s based on my own personal prejudice, before anyone wades in. He’s a fine driver in my view and will no doubt be a key player alongside Norris, Verstappen, Piastri and possibly CLC in years to come. If I owned a team Piastri would be my pick of the current crop.
But I would add that George is a very 'Mercedes' driver in my book. Sensible (mostly), polite, bit of a snob perhaps. The sort of guy that wouldn't punch you if you were in bed with his lady, but would instead challenge you to a duel, at a convenient time, so long as it doesn't interfere with work.
TheDeuce said:
Tend to agree, especially about Piastri.
But I would add that George is a very 'Mercedes' driver in my book. Sensible (mostly), polite, bit of a snob perhaps. The sort of guy that wouldn't punch you if you were in bed with his lady, but would instead challenge you to a duel, at a convenient time, so long as it doesn't interfere with work.
Probably 'before sundown'.But I would add that George is a very 'Mercedes' driver in my book. Sensible (mostly), polite, bit of a snob perhaps. The sort of guy that wouldn't punch you if you were in bed with his lady, but would instead challenge you to a duel, at a convenient time, so long as it doesn't interfere with work.
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