Russell Staying Positive Over Williams’ Pace

Williams driver George Russell claims the car exceeded expectations during the Chinese Grand Prix despite failing to get any points.

The 21-year-old British driver is a Formula 1 rookie this season with the Grove-based outfit alongside veteran team-mate Robert Kubica.

And Russell has endured something of a baptism of fire given that the 2019 car failed to arrive in time for pre-season testing in Barcelona and that has been reflected by their failure to gain any points in the opening three races.

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Russell finished 16th in Shanghai, while Kubica was one place behind him, but he is adamant that the car showed some positive signs. “The pace was slightly better than expected, we were battling in the opening couple of laps and we managed to stay with the pack,” Russell said. “Once things settled down, the gaps started to open, and it was a fairly lonely race for me.

We were struggling with the tyres in the middle stint of the race, and the lap times were dropping off, so it was the right choice to pit for a second time. “At the end of the day this is where we are at the moment, we must keep pushing and keep working.”