Russell happy with bigger Mercedes: 'Then it was too small'

Formula One drivers are often not the tallest people. If there is a tall but talented driver anyway, it often causes problems. Formula 1 cars are not made for tall people. George Russell knows this better than anyone.

When Russell was allowed to fill in for Lewis Hamilton in 2020, who could not race due to a corona infection, the youngster noticed it first-hand. The Mercedes of 2020 was not made for someone of 1.85 meters. So Russell had to struggle to get into the cockpit of his car. In a podcast of sponsor IWC Schaffhausen the driver looks back on that weekend in Bahrain.

"This year they made it bigger," Russell says. "Then it was small. I have a size 45 shoe. And I had to wear size 43 last time to fit in the car. And my knees were banging against the chassis, my shoulders were rubbing against the side. This season it's like lying on a sofa," laughs Hamilton's new teammate.

The interviewer notes that it would probably be difficult to swap cars with Hamilton because he is smaller than Russell and therefore has a narrower cockpit. But Russell says the cockpits are the same. "Maybe it's too big for Lewis now, I don't know."