There were few good times at Mercedes this season. The team’s malfunctioning car has caused them to grin stoically and endure it. In qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix and out of the blue, they finally got the chance to just grin as George Russell set an exceptional lap to claim his first Formula One pole position and first Mercedes season of the season.
High spirits in the Mercedes garage at Hungaroring as mechanics and engineers, who had been under pressure all season, finally got the adrenaline rush of success back. While Russell, the 24-year-old who keeps his emotions in check, beamed with joy.
“That’s what racing is about,” he said. “Why I wake up every day, because feelings like this are something you can’t really dream about.”
Russell, nicknamed “Mr. Saturday” won’t be able to shake the nickname in the future.
The magnitude of his achievement cannot be overestimated. His car had been lagging behind in pace all season and he appeared to be more than half a second behind the leaders at best. Just last night he and the team were feverishly looking for ways to get it back on track. Yet with so little preparation when it counted, Russell threw it around the Hungaroring with an abandon that was breathtaking and then paid tribute to his team.
“Yesterday was probably our toughest Friday of the season,” he said. “We were all here up until 11pm last night scratching our heads, morale was pretty low and we felt pretty lost. Coming back 24 hours later and claiming pole position is just such a feeling because I know what we went through last night. There are no qualifying points but to get that result for all of us is pretty big.”
As a technically demanding track with predominantly medium-speed and slow corners, the Hungaroring has to be mastered with absolute precision. This was then the fief of Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton, with a record eight poles here. Still, he could only manage seventh place on Saturday when his heir to the throne flew. Russell’s talent was never in question, here it was capitalized with every turn of the wheel, Hamilton acknowledged.
“Congratulations to George,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling to get the first pole position and it’s huge for the team, we don’t know where the pace suddenly came from, it came out of nowhere, that’s very positive. From this position he should be able to win at this track.”
George Russell was nicknamed “Mr. Saturday” for his skill over the single lap in qualifying while sitting in an underperforming car at Williams. Photo: Christian Bruna/EPA
The lap was the best of his four-year career, one that included Williams a superb second on the rainy day at Spa. Still, it had to be to push Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc into second and third, despite championship leader Max Verstappen having a poor afternoon, his Red Bull losing power on its final lap and finishing tenth. On this form Russell would still have the measure of the Dutchman.
The Mercedes is a moody car this season, difficult to set up and balance and with a narrow operating window in which to perform at its best. In Budapest, she and Russell found it. As team boss Toto Wolff noted with a bit of relieved humor that reflected the mood. “We just have to write down everything we did this morning, including the food and drink we drank, to repeat it,” he said.
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So can Mr Saturday dream of leaving Hungary on the day that really counts in Formula 1? He was cautious as always but knows he has every chance. Their car has been consistently better at race pace this season and if Russell can keep his lead off the line then overtaking him will not be an easy task. In any case, there was no lack of ambition. “We will give everything, victory is what we strive for,” he said, still grinning.
On Saturday morning, F1 launched a campaign to combat fan abuse online and in person under the ‘Drive it Out’ banner. It is supported by all teams and the FIA. “Abuse of any kind is unacceptable. If you can’t be respectful then don’t participate in our sport,” declared F1. The Austrian GP was marred by allegations of sexist harassment, inappropriate touching of female fans and homophobic and racial slurs, while social media saw the rise of often hateful and abusive discourse between fans of different drivers.
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