George Russell had a rather painful race at the Sakhir Grand Prix. He had the race win within his grasp through the first half of the race. Unfortunately, the second half kept throwing miseries toward Russell to an extent where he couldn’t catch a break and ultimately limped home in P9.

However, regardless of where he finished in the race, Mercedes were fairly impressed by Russell’s overall weekend with the team. He proved to be great in terms of adaptability, as he needed just three sessions to give his teammate a hard fight, both in qualifying and in the race.

However, it wasn’t his adaptability that impressed Mercedes. Apparently, the Silver Arrows were quite astonished by something that Russell managed to showcase.

How did George Russell impress Mercedes?

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ track engineer director, opened up on what aspect of Russell’s race managed to grab Mercedes’ attention. Apparently, it was his attacking nature that gave the Silver Arrows glimmer of hope that he is worthy enough to drive for them in the future.

“That’s the hardest thing you can really predict how he will advance,” he said. “But that was very impressive. He really attacked.”

Trending

Liam Lawson’s Surprise Contract Clause Threatens Daniel Ricciardo’s RB Seat

April 24, 2024 11:15 AM EDT

Daniel Ricciardo To Be Replaced by Liam Lawson After Miami, F1 Pundit Dishes Out Harsh Verdict After Australian’s “Amateur Mistake”

April 17, 2024 11:14 AM EDT

F1 Rumor: Christian Horner and Wife Geri to Publicly Reveal All Details on Leaked Chat Scandal

April 22, 2024 04:10 PM EDT

Max Verstappen Sabotaged Daniel Ricciardo’s Only Chance of Getting the Red Bull Seat for 2025

April 21, 2024 11:59 AM EDT

Miami GP 2024: Max Verstappen Embraces the American Spirit With Helmet Design

April 23, 2024 06:15 PM EDT

Get instantly notified of the hottest F1 stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

A race win would have been an incredible tale to tell for Russell. Unfortunately, it never turned out that way for the rising star. Nevertheless, he did enough from his side to prove that he is a championship-material.

He was self-confident and disciplined: Shovlin

Russell showed a very calm figure through Friday. He never showed any intentions of aiming for the timesheet during practice sessions.

He took his time, got up to speed, and drastically closed in on his teammate over the weekend. By the time he reached race-day, he was already lapping faster than Bottas. Shovlin acknowledged the same and felt that Russell approached each of his runs efficiently.

“The risk,” Shovlin said. “If this is an opportunity to show what you can do in a fast car – is that it is so easy to make mistakes. He obviously thought about it for a second.”

“He attacked, he was self-confident and disciplined, he approached every run methodically.”

With the weekend in Bahrain, Russell gave more than enough reasons to why he could be the right successor for Lewis or Bottas. So, the Russell signing is coming at some point, but how far away is the deal from happening?