Russell sees move to Mercedes as reward: 'Not my final goal yet'

Since his debut in 2019, George Russell has been one of the stars in Formula 1. Although he only got his first points in 2020, he has made his name as a future star of the sport. The reward is a seat with Mercedes' for 2022, alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

"When I was 15 years old I knew that life wasn't going to be easy and that it was going to be hugely complicated to end up in Formula One. There are only twenty drivers and if I wanted to be one of them, a very good driver would have to leave. Because I understood that so early on, it helped me a lot," admitted the Williams driver in conversation with Bild.

Driving as a Mercedes driver not the ultimate goal

In his first year in F2, Russell became champion and so it wasn't surprising that he made the switch to F1 at Williams, but it wasn't a given. "Once I walked into the hospitality and asked if I could talk to Claire (Williams, ed.)."

"That mentality helped him a lot. My parents always told me to work for my dreams and that you only get what you put in. If you don't always give 120 percent, you have no chance ". That also makes Russell have a huge amount of self-confidence in him. "I know what I needed to get here. Getting into F1 is not my end goal. My goal is to become world champion," Russell concluded with confidence.