'I've been getting better and don't see the plateau point'

Now the main man at Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton’s exit, George Russell talks to Kieran Jackson about his barometers for success and issues a warning to the bosses of the sport

- Kieran Jackson

Primed and ready to converse in the familiar surroundings of the dimly lit Mercedes motorhome, George Russell has the aura of a man who knows how significant 2025 is in his Formula One career. His seventh season overall, fourth with Mercedes, and first without Lewis Hamilton as his teammate. Unyielding in his self-confidence and steadfast in his views, it’s time to step up to the mantle. With a contract expiring at the end of the season, it’s time to be No 1.

“I don’t feel I’ve reached my peak yet,” Russell tells The Independent in Imola, having recorded four podiums in six races, his best start to a season. “What’s changed? It’s been an evolution… I was just driving at 110 per cent too often in the past.

“I was looking for those big wins and I didn’t care if it came at the expense of the odd mistake. I got some big wins, pole at Silverstone… but made mistakes in Montreal and Singapore.

“But now I’ve realised it’s all about being consistent, that’s the real me, that’s how I won F2 and F3. When I jumped in as teammates with Lewis [in 2022], I was in at the deep end because my learning curve had just flatlined at Williams. I learnt more in my first few races at Mercedes than in my last 18 months at Williams.

“But now, I know when to turn the dial up and when to reduce it. I’ve been getting better and better – and I don’t see the plateau point.”

Russell’s engrossing feud with four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen at the back-end of last year, where he labelled the Dutchman a “bully”, accentuates his self-assured and steely mindset, both with the visor down and amid the helter-skelter environment of the F1 paddock.