George Russell was hailed as “cold-blooded” after ending an agonising 112-day wait for victory at Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix George Russell to reignite his world championship dream.
Russell headed into the eighth round of the season at the Red Bull Ring winless since the opening fixture in Melbourne on March 8.
But he delivered an impressive display to keep Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli at bay to claim a much-needed win and reduce the latter’s title advantage from 50 points to 40 ahead of next weekend’s British Grand Prix.
Russell’s triumph also elevated him ahead of Lewis Hamilton into second in the standings after a questionable three-stop strategy scuppered the Ferrari driver’s challenge. Hamilton took the chequered flag in fifth and is now 46 points off the championship pace.
“Yabba-dabba-doo!” yelled a euphoric Russell over the radio as he channelled his inner Fred Flinstone.
His season so far has been rocked by bad luck, indifferent form, and a mighty impressive Antonelli – a winner of five races – in the other Mercedes.
“It was a perfect execution by George,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “He was quick, he managed the tyres well, cold-blooded, and I am really happy for him.”
Russell, 28, begun the year as the title favourite, and he raced out the traps with a dominant victory.
But the title momentum quickly swung to the other side of the Mercedes garage in the hands of his junior team-mate to leave Russell scrambling for answers.
“The tough races test you psychologically,” admitted Russell. “And my last win feels like a long time ago.
“It has been a tough couple of months with races which felt like everything was going against me, and then an incredible team-mate who has been delivering spectacular performances, week-in-week-out.
“I know I am capable of doing it. I have always believed in that. This year, I never doubted my ability, I just doubted the process, and I’ve needed to get on top of that. But I have not forgotten how to drive.
“Going into Canada (on May 24) and the last race in Barcelona from quite a low point, I needed a lot of resilience to get back and put in some strong performances.
“So, to claim the last two pole-positions, and a win here this weekend, at a track which isn’t especially suited to me, I am really, really proud of that.”
Russell will feel a weight has been lifted off his shoulders ahead of his home event at Silverstone next weekend with a victory he hopes will serve as a springboard to further glory.
Verstappen had threatened to crash Russell’s party, and at one stage was just over a second behind, but the concluding round of pit-stops ended his challenge.
Hamilton had been hoping to build on his first Ferrari win in Barcelona a fortnight ago. But he finished a distant fifth – despite an early brilliant battle with Verstappen for second – to leave him 46 points off the title pace. A race described as a “reality check” by the seven-time world champion.
Hamilton said: “We don’t know why we were so competitive on Sunday in Barcelona. It is a very strong track for me. I chose a strategy that I thought, from experience, would work with the deck that we had.
“But then today we were hit more with the reality, which is that, we still do have a good car, but we are down compared to Mercedes. They are just quicker.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t close that gap. It’s just that one win doesn’t mean we’re going to be beating them all the time. It’s the opposite. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
