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Former F1 driver turned expert Martin Brundle has urged George Russell not to let Sakhir’s GP heartbreak “eat him up”.
When Lewis Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the Sakhir Grand Prix, Russell received the golden ticket when he swapped his Williams for the dominant Mercedes W11.
And it was a good weekend for the Briton at the end of qualifying after putting his W11 P2 on the grid, just 0.026 seconds less than Valtteri Bottas, who has not missed a race for Mercedes since joining in 2017.
Then the race started even better when Russell took the lead from his teammate at the exit of Turn 1 and started building a nice gap at the front.
However, disaster struck in the pits when a Mercedes mistake caused Russell to be sent back on Bottas tires, meaning another stop was needed to correct that mistake.
And just as Russell was working his way back through the group and had race leader Sergio Perez in his sights, a puncture would end any hope of victory.
Russell, while grateful for the opportunity, was understandably depressed after the race, and with Lewis Hamilton now fit and back in the W11 for the Abu Dhabi GP, Russell will not have a chance to set the record straight.
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– Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@ MercedesAMGF1) December 11, 2020
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Yet he showed the motorsport world just how talented he is, and Brundle urged his compatriot not to let Sakhir’s annoyance eat him up, because in the end he did what he set out to do, which was put himself in a Mercedes. radar for the future.
“My advice that I gave George, that he didn’t ask me, don’t let this eat you, don’t let it be negative energy,” Brundle told Sky F1.
“Overall it was a fantastic weekend for the George Russell brand, for his career, for his own confidence.
“And I know from experience that run-away races can keep gnawing and it’s no use, you can’t change it, just keep your head down and believe in yourself.
“Just remember that you could have locked a brake in qualifying, someone could have run you over from behind in the first corner and pulled you out of the race and you may never have been able to prove that, so overall you have to treat it as a brilliant experience “.
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