Russell plans a more aggressive approach in 2020

George Russell wants to "get his elbows out" a bit more during the 2020 Formula 1 season. After being parked at the back of the grid for the full season, the Williams driver didn't get much chance to fight with many cars. He hopes that will change this time around. 

The British driver was the only racer not to score a point during the season, but he did out-qualify Robert Kubica on every occasion. Through the winter, Russell has done some analysis and wants to improve on those starts after good qualifying sessions. 

"I'm definitely trying to get stronger in that [starts]," says Russell when asked by Motorsport.com. The young Briton thought it was below par in that area in 2019. "I didn't perform well enough in that area. It was my first year and I didn't want to take unnecessary risks in that regard. But this year it is clear that I need to race my elbows more. I can't always hang around in the back."

Russell already told GPblog earlier during the test weeks in Barcelona that he expects the British racing team to be at the back still. 

"It would be great if we could beat another team's car in qualifying, especially when you see where we were last year. But that is not the main goal," he says.

For the time being, however, the focus will be on one's own performance and performance. It doesn't make much sense to look at what the other teams are doing. "We don't go outside to stand in front of the other person, we try to get the most out of our own car. Whether that's P19 or whether we can get Q3," Russell concludes.