George Russell has revealed that he aims to improve his racing pace in the upcoming 2025 season, admitting that he wasn’t always at his best during 2024, while noting that he wouldn’t be satisfied with five, while the car has the potential for ten wins.
Russell emerged as one of the main names last year, taking two wins and beating teammate Lewis Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari, with 245 points to Hamilton’s 223.
However, the Briton impressed most in qualifying, where he beat Hamilton in the fastest lap 19 times in the weekend’s 24 races, the record holder for the number of pole positions won in F1.
Russell was on pole position four times last season, while Hamilton did not win any, and had the third best average qualifying position, behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
However, there were times during the season when Russell failed to capitalize on a good starting position, such as in Canada, where he dropped from first place to third place.
Such incidents encouraged him to work extra hard to be as competitive in races as he was in qualifying.
“My goals are largely the same and the approach hasn’t changed,” Russell said in an exclusive interview with Mercedes.
“Formula 1 is so unique that you can’t set goals like that. If I say I want to win four races this year because I won three last year, I won’t be satisfied if I win five, and the car is capable of ten wins. That’s why I base my goals on the details.”
“Last year, qualifying was my strong point, but the pace in the races wasn’t always the best. I know I have the speed in one lap, but there’s no reason why I can’t carry that over into the race as a whole.”
“I have to work on certain elements to achieve that, and there are some other goals – they may not be obvious to the fans, but they are extremely important to me.”
“The great thing about F1 is that every year you come in with a new car and new limitations – what was a strength last year, maybe it won’t be this year. You always have to adapt.”
