George Russell still carries scars from 2020 Mercedes F1 call-up

Mercedes Formula 1 driver George Russell has revealed he still carries scars on his hips from squeezing into seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton’s race seat during his appearance for the Brackley outfit at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

Russell, who was driving for Williams at the time, was called up to Mercedes for the penultimate race of 2020 after Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19.

Speaking on the SAP Significant Figures show, Russell reflected on his debut with Mercedes. “I got the phone call on the Tuesday. I jumped in the car on Wednesday to see if I fit, and I did not,” the Briton explained.

“It was Lewis and Valtteri Bottas, who were the two drivers at the time. They are quite a bit shorter than me. I’ve also got quite big flipper feet as well, which is quite tight in a Formula 1 car. And I was scrunched in, bent over, my shoes didn’t fit. I’m a size 45, like 11.5, 11. And I had to wear size 43 shoes to fit in.

“But they were asking me, ‘Is it OK? I was like, ‘Yeah, totally fine. No issues, no issues. I’m driving, no matter what, I am driving this weekend.'”

George Russell, Mercedes

In his first qualifying session for Mercedes, Russell secured second on the grid, missing out on pole position to Bottas by just 0.026 seconds. He took the lead at the start and managed to build an eight-second advantage before a safety car triggered a disastrous run of pitstops. Mercedes mistakenly fitted Bottas’s tyres to Russell’s car, which is against regulations, so he was forced to pit again on the following lap.

While recovering through the field, Russell suffered a late puncture. “I was on course to win the race and then it all got taken away,” Russell added. “It was really tough, but I also knew what I showed in that race was enough that that would probably seal my future with this team.

“So as I said, if my career had stopped on that Sunday night thereafter, it probably would have affected me until this day.” 

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