(Motorsport-Total.com) – The 2026 Austrian Grand Prix was one of those races where the second or third place finisher could have won. But the winner – Mercedes driver George Russell – was the one who withstood the pressure best at the decisive moment.
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He is still behind teammate Kimi Antonelli in the championship, but improved to second place and closed the gap on a day when Antonelli’s messy first corner led to an unsettled first stint.
The Italian was apparently still affected by a mistake in qualifying when he aborted his last lap, which would have put him in the front row.
Russell’s ability to deliver under pressure and to spot every little opportunity to gain an advantage over his rivals are, according to his former team boss Claire Williams, the key factors that will help him further close the gap to his teammate.
“From my experience with George, I think he is absolutely capable of winning this psychological battle when it comes to winning a world championship – especially in the duel with his own teammate, who is inevitably the toughest opponent because you have the same equipment,” she says.
“George is very self-reflective, and he is good at sitting down every single day and asking himself: ‘What do I have to do to outperform my teammate? How can I win this battle?'”
Williams: “Psychological battle” decides in the end
“In championships where teammates race against each other – similar to Lewis [Hamilton] and Nico [Rosberg] back then, when Nico prevailed – it is the psychological battle that makes the difference,” she explains.
“And I believe George currently has perhaps a maturity advantage over Kimi simply because of his age and experience. That’s exactly where he will make the difference,” Williams suspects.
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Russell was part of the Mercedes junior program when he moved to Williams in Formula 1 after winning the title in his rookie season in Formula 2 in 2018, at a time when the team was still owned and run by the Williams family.
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Although the deal gave the financially struggling team discounted Mercedes engines, the situation remained tense and the 2019 car was not competitive.
The pandemic the following year brought Williams to the brink of insolvency, and the team was only saved by the sale to the new owner Dorilton Capital. Meanwhile, Russell was at the back of the field while Mercedes and Hamilton won two more world championships.
Russell’s “tough” years at Williams
Although Russell still hoped for a cockpit at Mercedes, this opportunity only arose at the end of 2021 when the team decided to replace Valtteri Bottas as Hamilton’s teammate. Unfortunately, Russell’s promotion to the works team coincided with a regulation change that Mercedes initially struggled with.
Williams reveals: “When George was still at Williams and desperately wanted out of his contract while watching Mercedes win everything, I always told him: These years may be tough and you might be unhappy right now, but they will help you in the long run.”
“They create a strong foundation and resilience that you can draw on later in your Formula 1 career,” says Williams, who reveals: “He takes all of this very seriously. And I’m not sure if you can necessarily call it overanalyzing, because in Formula 1 a lot has to be analyzed.”
“I think George is just thorough – and a perfectionist,” she reports and explains: “That can only be an advantage in the situation he is in this year.”
“He often told a story from his karting days with his father when he was very young. Back then, many called him ‘Grandpa’ because he behaved exceptionally mature for his age,” Williams reports.
“And I think it is exactly this maturity that also gave him this perfectionism. That’s George: He wants to do everything to perfection.”
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