NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
George Russell is finally a grand-prix winner. I say finally; the lad’s only 24, but it feels like a long time coming. Brazil was his 81st GP, his 22nd in a Mercedes.
He almost took his first F1 victory at his first attempt in a Mercedes at 2020’s Sakhir GP, in Bahrain, when he filled in for the Covid-struck Lewis Hamilton, but a puncture put paid to that dream.
He has had to wait until the penultimate race of this season, a longer wait than he would have expected when he signed his contract. This year’s all-new W13 car had huge problems in the first half; uncomfortable and performance-sapping porpoising, no balance, little grip. That the team have ironed out those issues to achieve a meritorious one-two victory before the flag falls on 2022 is testament to their collective toil.
Hamilton was genuinely pleased for his team-mate and hugged him warmly under the podium. The seven-times world champion has grown into one of the truest team players the sport has ever seen. Mercedes are 19 points off Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, and if they can outscore the Scuderia in Abu Dhabi next weekend that will be a big boost, in both money and morale.Speaking of team players, we need to talk about Max Verstappen.