After 4 grand prix weekends this previous season, George Russell lay simply six factors behind Max Verstappen within the drivers’ standings. It’s straightforward to miss – given the best way the trajectory of the season funnelled into the three-way struggle between Verstappen and the 2 McLaren drivers – the all-round energy of Russell’s 12 months.
Partly that’s as a result of Mercedes by no means fairly made the leap to full competitiveness, even within the closing 12 months of the second ground-effect period. The W16 was alleged to easy out the bumps in Mercedes’ steadiness of efficiency, retaining its predecessor’s first rate high-speed tempo however curing a reluctance to show, particularly in gradual corners, and a bent to hardly ever steadiness the tyre temperatures on the entrance and rear axles optimally. It was an enchancment, simply not fairly sufficient to chop it recurrently on the very entrance.
Because of this, Russell discovered himself mired in a kind of front-midfield place within the early races, not quick sufficient to problem the McLarens however adequate for him to assert a clutch of podiums early on. Most spectacular of those was his second place in Bahrain underneath strain from behind as his automotive suffered {an electrical} glitch.
Arguably these seasons the place Mercedes has misplaced its earlier place of outright dominance have been the making of Russell as he develops his craft, confidence, and the power to climate strain and disappointments. The battle for the drivers’ title naturally hogged the headlines, however he’s the one driver exterior that high three to have received a grand prix in 2025 – this regardless of Mercedes taking place what proved to be a blind alley with a brand new rear suspension geometry launched mid-season.
Two years in the past in Singapore, he threw away a possible podium by smiting the wall within the closing phases. In 2025 he decisively closed that chapter by profitable it on benefit – and, as he stated afterwards, “I’m a special driver now”.
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