‘People can say what they want’ – George Russell has ‘no need to respond’ to detractors

George Russell has responded to detractors who claim he makes too many mistakes, saying he could drive “one-tenth” off the pace to bring the car home safely, or he can push.

He chooses to do the latter, especially while Mercedes are chasing wins and not World titles.

George Russell: People can say what they want…

Although Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix, albeit after being handed two positions when Max Verstappen and Lando Norris crashed, the Briton still faced criticism.

Brazilian journalist Julianne Cerasoli told the F1 Nation podcast that she feels Toto Wolff’s radio message when Russell took the lead was because “there is this concern” within the Mercedes camp that he over does it.

“I do feel Mercedes feels George sometimes he changes a little bit and he gets a bit overly aggressive or he starts making mistakes when he feels he’s got a chance to win,” she added.

Russell is perplexed by the criticism as the two-time F1 Grand Prix winner feels mistakes are a result of pushing, and that’s exactly what he’s doing to get Mercedes back to the front of the F1 field.

“I have no need to respond to those people,” Russell told Motorsport.com of his critics, “because I’m focused on my own job. I could drive one-tenth off the pace for 70 laps in a row and I wouldn’t make a single mistake.

“[In] 2022 I didn’t make a single mistake in the whole season, but I wasn’t pushing myself the way I’m pushing myself now. And the way I’m pushing myself now has allowed me to out-qualify my team-mate eight times out of nine races this season [9-2 after Austria] and allow me to be ahead of him in most of these races.

“I could drive one-tenth off the pace, not make a single mistake, and still finish third [in Canada], and it looks like a flawless race from the outside. But knowing within I had a tenth on the table, I’d be kicking myself for not pushing myself to the limit.

“So, people can say what they want. I’m pushing myself above and beyond. And maybe overstretched slightly because I’m trying to…

“It feels like [there have been] three opportunities in 115 races to score victory. And trying to achieve that in the moment, as when I was a kid, racing in F2, F3, GP3, everything else, when I won championships, I just took the result that was on the table.

“If it’s a win today, take the win, if it’s a P3, take the P3. If I was in P3, I wasn’t overdriving to try and achieve that victory as I knew to win a championship I just needed to get the points.

“So yeah, mistakes happen, it’s life. We’ve all been through times where these mistakes happen, but they happen as I’m pushing myself above and beyond, and I think I’m in that position as I’m driving better than ever.”

He added: “I think in my career so far in F1 I’ve had three shots at victory. Which was probably Bahrain 2020, which should have been a victory, that was outside of my control. Brazil [2022], and then Montreal.

“If I count Bahrain as a victory, I think I’m there to take those moments as they come.”

How George Russell is leading the Mercedes team-mate head-to-head

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

But while Russell concedes that his actions at the Canadian Grand Prix where he was twice off the track may have cost him a race win, he insists he will “dial down the risk/reward” if or when he finds himself in a title fight.

“That one race in Canada I was pushing way beyond my limits as I felt this was one shot at victory, whereas if I was in a championship fight against Max I’d probably have said, ‘P2 is the result today’,” he said. “I’d accept that. And I need to dial down the risk/reward [ratio] of how hard I’m driving.

“Whereas, at the moment in the race, that dial is turned up all the way because I want to get a [another] victory to my name.

“That’s the mentality I’m in at the moment. To be honest, I don’t enjoy driving like that as I’d rather be more consistent like I was in 2022. But six years in [F1], I don’t take the satisfaction from consistently finishing just in the top five.

“In 2022, I finished in the top five more than any single driver on the grid [Russell scored the equal most points finishes that year with Verstappen and Sergio Perez, with 20], but I’d prefer finishing P6 every race and having two victories rather than finishing P5, P4, P3 every race and not get the race victory.

“I hope that mentality can change next year, if we have a car that can fight for the championship.”

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