George Russell places his complete Method 1 2024 defeat of former Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying all the way down to being “psychologically in a extremely good place”.
The 26-year-old ended the 2024 season with a 24-6 qualifying document towards Hamilton, with all classes together with those who set the grid for dash occasions considered.
This compares with their 8-12 and 15-13 information from 2022 (when there have been simply three sprints total and just one qualifying session on every such weekend, therefore the decrease whole) and 2023.
Hamilton typically struggled to take care of promising apply kind throughout his ultimate Mercedes marketing campaign with the troublesome W15, the place Russell additionally led him within the factors standings and every completed the season with two wins apiece.
This might have been a 3-1 cut up in Russell’s favour however for his Spa on-the-road victory being misplaced for his automotive/driver post-race weight whole coming in 1.5kg underneath the minimal allowed in F1’s guidelines.
When requested by Autosport why he feels he was so good at qualifying in comparison with Hamilton on the current 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Russell replied: “I simply really feel actually assured inside the automotive, assured inside myself.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
“I really feel psychologically I am in a extremely good place, particularly in terms of these high-pressure eventualities to get probably the most out of myself.
“I am not gonna evaluate towards my team-mate, however simply when it comes to my very own private efficiency, I really feel [I’m] driving higher than ever.”
Russell additionally stated he felt even higher in himself in comparison with the beginning of 2024, when it turned clear he could be set to guide Mercedes as Hamilton determined to hitch Ferrari for 2025.
“Each driver is able to doing nice laps and nice performances, however when the stress’s up and it comes all the way down to that one lap in Q3 – that is the place it comes all the way down to your headspace, actually,” Russell stated of how his psychological feeling had impacted his 2024 outcomes.
“And I really feel like I’ve discovered lots about myself and how one can get probably the most out of myself. And for everybody it is totally different. However I simply know in myself what works for me.”
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Alex Kalinauckas
Method 1
Lewis Hamilton
George Russell
Mercedes
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