"Russell still as confident as last year"

George Russell brilliantly won the F2 championship in 2018 and was the first rookie of that year to advance to F1. A lot was expected of him but unfortunately Williams didn't give him the material to live up to these expectations. In 2020 he will finally be able to compete against some rivals on Saturday but Sunday still leaves much to be desired.

Russell improved in every respect

Williams leader Dave Robson is quoted by Motorsport-total.com as saying: "He [Russell, ed.] says exactly what he wants and what he needs and is not afraid of anything. Russell still has the same approach as in his first season, but has improved in every respect".

What also helps Russell is that every now and then he gets to test in the best car on the field. The Brit is still a Mercedes protege: "It shows him what an extremely good car can do. We get the feedback from that again", Robson continues. "This is hugely valuable to us and has been spot on."

Optimism at Williams

"Russell's self-confidence is only strengthened by this. He can sit in any car and be very fast compared to other drivers".

After the dramatic past years, with 2019 as the low point, there is now optimism among Williams. Especially the battles they can engage in during qualifying on Saturday bring happy faces. "The aim is to put this group behind us and focus on the next one. They're just frustratingly far away, frankly," Robson concluded.