BREAKING: George Russell will drive for Mercedes in place of Lewis Hamilton.

And when he gets back into the Williams after this is over, "GP2 car, GP2 car!!!"......

 

This is a new track layout. More power is needed than last week. Ferrari will lag even further behind this weekend.

Mazepin got a "POLE" lap time at Catalunya in 2019....first time in the W10.

Russel SHOULD get pole this weekend. There will be 87 or 89 laps during the race.

Bottas and Max will be ready to pounce on this once in a lifetime opportunity regarding Mercedes F1

 

Thats a relaxed atmosphere compared to a 'race'. His challenge will be in the management of that stress vs one for a test. This is not the most challenging technical circuit on the alternate track. This will not be a good evaluation of his skills given the lack of challenge vs other circuits. If he does not do well here, that will be very very bad for him. Shorter lap but fewer corners. He must show well here.

Expectation with short lap is more traffic both race and qualy. So less technical but more moving pieces lol

 

I'm looking forward to Russell showing his talent, Max is licking his chops for a win

 

They need a new PU to compete with Mercedes. Id be watching Perez and the trust fund child as well.

 

As long as there is no safety car to crash behind he will be OK. Too soon?

 

Good for him. I'm definitely cheering for him. The quicker we have the likes of Russell, Norris, LeClerc battling it out for wins the better.

 

It doesn't matter if it's a relaxed atmosphere, he is still familiar with the car and the team and it shouldn't take him long to be up to speed.

All Russell needs to do is be a few tenths off Bottas, make the podium and it's a job well done. If Russell is faster than Bottas or wins the media will be calling him the next Lewis etc.

 

The pressure is on. Being familiar with the car, its setup, the control layout on the wheel, etc... Bottas is expected to out-qualify and out-race Russell. If Russell outperforms Bottas in his first weekend in the car, Mercedes might well question the seat assignment in the second car.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I agree on his time needed vs Bottas but testing and racing are very different environments with a very different car.

 

Agree'd but they wont be altering a contract for next year in the interim. The team dynamic for stability is set with respect to LH. Russell needs a strong impression that if he was in the car he would yield similar or better results than Bottas, in terms of projection.

 

If he doesnt make any mistakes or get punted off he will probably end up at least P3, with a decent shot at winning. It's the best car and he is massively talented.

 

U have to adapt to the new car as sainz said... that being said he has rythm... I see p4-6 in quali and race


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The key mental force is to drive and treat this experience as just another race. Not hold it to a higher standard. Be the driver he is at Williams. Getting the most out of the package with no thought of the future. Live in the moment and focus only on that experience.

 

So lets ask the fun questions...He has driven the car before and he will be doing practice runs so the car won't be completely new.

If he wins...is the Mercedes car that good that "anyone can win in it" or is GR a huge talent in a backmarker who finally got to show his speed?

 

His times in practice will be interesting but meaningless. The qualy and its traffic in Q1 will be major for all teams for timing. That will be the key for him. Timing of Q1 and staying out of trouble in the traffic on a short crowded circuit. The rest will sort itself if he makes it out of Q1. Then he must simply make the best time. No matter his position on the grid, he has to avoid problems early and have a good start. I expect others to race him rather severely.

 

Russell's performance will have no bearing whatsoever on retaining Bottas or not. Come on, after seven years of domination there are still people who think Mercedes wants two WDC drivers in their ranks? Bottas does the second-driver duty better than any other driver on the grid and Russell is no competition at all for that position. The winning formula is one good driver with a strong second-tier helper to rake in the WCC points and create margin between the team's good driver and competitors. Russell will enter Mercedes only to replace Hamilton, not race alongside him. Putting him in now shows LH they have other options & pressure him for the contract negotiations.

Bottas' qualifying has been quite well, Crofty might be worried for Russell's only accomplishment thus far...

 

When Bottas is replaced, Russell is one candidate among others they might hire. LH replacement will not be Russell but a better known star with experience. The actual replacement will be which of the 2 drivers is better than the other in the garage consistently. Assume Russell is even hired at all for Mercedes. Nothing is certain yet. Russell has experience but none in a top winning team with that resultant pressure faced.

 

Will be interesting to see how this goes.
Would Merc turn the engine down just a bit to protect the franchise so to speak? Dont want a first timer outperforming their other driver.
Will this somewhat unique track layout this weekend actually be easier to pick up? I dont know a lot about it specifically but it seems to be one of the less technical layouts of all the tracks they go to.
Every Quali I hear from the announcers that Russell has never been out qualified by his teammate. Can he continue the streak? Would be mighty impressive if so.

I am sure Lewis will be fine and wish him the best but this has added some excitement to what otherwise was looking to be a pretty boring race weekend.

 

Just imagine Russell destroying Bottas ala Schumacher spa 1991, what would be your opinion about the mighty Lewis ?

 

His teammates have been Kubica(2019) who actually scored a WDC point; and Latifi(2020). Enough said.

 

I think people are overly optimystic thinking Russel will get pole and win.

He needs to adapt to the car, setup, team, etc. Also Bottas is not as good as LH but he still a good driver overall.

I would expect Russel to be top10 in qualifying and top6-8 in the race. Don't forget that Mercedes don't perform very well in "dirty air".

Also this track layout is weird. Redbull, RP and Renault might be strong in this high speed layout.

 

Many F1 drivers along side myself opinion would not change. Lewis has nothing left to prove. He already has a long legacy of performance. The focus is shifting to the young drivers now. When Schumacher was not able to win a single legitimate race in 2005, peoples opinion of him didn't change much.

 

First time in years people get so excited when Hamilton does NOT drive....