George Russell draws confidence from "laughable" bad year in Formula 3

George Russell is the reigning Formula 2 world champion, so coming into Formula 1 with Williams - in one of the two slowest cars on the grid must've been tricky. However, Russell recalls a time in Formula 3 that helps him cope with this.

Russell started race in F3 in 2015 for Carlin. The Brit took his maiden victory in the opening round of the season at Silverstone, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi, who were also making their respective debuts in the class.

However, the driver was unable to kick on from the opening weekend victory and finished in P6 in the drivers' standings. He drove two seasons in F3 before Mercedes signed him, perhaps surprisingly according to Russell.

"The fact that Mercedes let me sign while I was only third in my second year in F3 said a lot," the Williams driver said to Motorsport.com. "It was almost laughable to see how wrong that championship went in some ways.

"If they believed I could become an F1 driver after having only won two races in that class and finishing third, it means the numbers do not tell the whole story," Russell concluded.

Nowadays, Russell has impressed in his debut season in F1, completely outperforming his Williams team-mate Robert Kubica; who has far more experience to boast than the Brit.