George Russell makes bold F1 title fight claim after statement win

George Russell has declared he “feels ready to fight for a championship” after his statement victory at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver converted his stunning pole position into a dominant second win of the season in Singapore, adding to his earlier victory at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell’s victory banished the memories he had of crashing out of third place in Singapore two years ago, and the Briton feels he has come a long way as a driver since then.

"I'm a very different driver today to the one I was a couple of years ago, and I feel more complete, more confident. I know exactly what I need to do in given circumstances,” Russell said.

“Of course, I was nervous before the race, as you'd expect, but I didn't feel any additional nerves or any additional pressure. It just felt like another race, and I knew I had a chance to win, and I felt comfortable with that.

"So I've said it for a while - I feel ready to fight for a championship. I feel ready to take it to my next step.”

Asked what he has been able to improve, Russell explained: “I think it just comes with experience, just knowing how to maximise every situation.

"Probably a couple of years ago I was driving a bit more tense and probably over-pushing in circumstances when I shouldn't have been. Now I just feel much more relaxed. Going into today, I was relaxed.

"When it was raining an hour before the race, I just said: 'You know, it is what it is. It's the same for everybody. There's nothing I can do, so there's no point stressing about it.' Myself a few years ago would have been slightly different.”

Mercedes left searching for answers

Mercedes’ level of competitiveness in Singapore came as a big surprise to Russell, who admitted the team do not have an answer for why they were so strong at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

"If I were to make a list of all the races I thought we could win at this year, this would probably be right at the bottom," Russell said.

"So I think we need to sit down tomorrow and Tuesday to sort of understand why the performance was so good.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was equally baffled.

Asked where Mercedes’ performance in Singapore had come from, he replied: "You tell me. That was never a nice place for us in terms of car performance.

"And if you would have told me that we were dominating in the way we did today, I would not have believed it.”

Wolff added: "These cars are just a surprise box. If you ask McLaren why the last three races haven't gone at all, they would probably struggle for answers. And the same way, Max coming back and then lacking performance again today, and the same with the Ferraris oscillating between success and failure.

"It's just that margins are so small in having the car in the right aerodynamic window, in extracting that maximum mechanical grip without killing the tyres, and the sweet spot of the Pirellis obviously. That doesn't always correlate what you see in the virtual world, in the simulations, to what happens on the track.

"But [in Singapore], from the get-go the tyres, driver and car were just in sync and not to be beaten."