George Russell, Williams, Suzuka, 2019

F1 hasn’t changed my life as much as people think – Russell

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In the round-up: George Russell says the most surprising thing about arriving in Formula 1 is discovering how normal everyone is.

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What they say

Russell was asked what had surprised him about making his Formula 1 debut:

Probably the fact it hasn’t really changed my life as much as people would assume. I’m still absolutely the same bloke, still try and stay down to earth.

I think when you sit at home and you watch these guys on the television, you think they’re almost superheroes and they’re untouchable. But we’re all just normal blokes, really.

I go to every every race with the same goal as I always did which is to do the best I can. Obviously it’s just a much larger scale in F1 and it’s obviously such a dream for me to be in F1 but generally I think the surprising part is everyone’s just normal human beings.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

View this post on Instagram

Snug as a bug in a rug 😃 2020 seat fit ✅

A post shared by George Russell (@georgerussell63) on

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Comment of the day

Will the new rules for the 2021 F1 season make it too hard for teams to innovate?

It seems the screws are tightening on innovation in F1.

The entire point of motor racing was to improve the product, introduce and test new tech under the harshest of environments. The changes in 2021 are possibly good for the sport… we’ll see. But I’m concerned about the changes in 2022, 2023 and beyond that will be introduced under the guise of reducing costs.
@Johnrkh

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On this day in F1

Force India VJM03 launch, 2010
Force India VJM03 launch, 2010

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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7 comments on “F1 hasn’t changed my life as much as people think – Russell”

  1. I agree with the CotD by @johnrkh. I’m not going to say more about this topic, enough electrons have given up their lives in capturing my opinions yesteday.

    Which year’s car are they using for the 18″ tests? Is it one of the wider 2017- cars, or the narrower 2014-2016 cars? Or an older naturally-aspirated car? @jerejj – would you happen to know?

    1. Cristiano Ferreira
      9th February 2020, 3:24

      As part of Pirelli’s development programme for its 2021-spec tyres, Ferrari will supply an SF90 mule car to the two-day test that will take place in Spain on February 8-9.

      Source: https://f1i.com/news/366195-leclerc-on-duty-for-ferrari-18-inch-tyre-test-at-jerez.html

      1. Thank you, Cristiano.

      2. looks like it is fitted with bespoke brakes. that should naturally aid brembo but I’m more interested in the impact of nbiger brakes.

    2. Those electrons merely went home after being held captive in the wrong side of a battery, @phylyp.
      Your opinions liberated them and you can pat yourself on the back for being a true freedom fighter/writer.

  2. I share the same views as the COTD to an extent, although I wouldn’t be that worried yet. We shall wait and find out.

  3. It is interesting to compare the life of a rookie driver at the back of the grid to an established F1 celebrity.

    I picture HAM going to fashion shows, having a massive PR team, signing autographs, driving the most expensive luxury cars, staying in gorgeous houses/hotels and being surrounded by models.

    Then I picture RUS doing more mundane/everyday tasks like buying groceries, paying his phone bill, trying to find cool things on Amazon, etc. Then occasionally getting a call from Williams saying to come in and do some driving.

    Interesting to think how, at the end of the day, both guys do the exact same thing for a living…

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