“Emotional” Russell feeling “weird” after Williams ends F1 points drought
Even though he scored in his one-off outing for Mercedes in 2020, prior to Hungary, he was still yet to get off the mark while driving for Williams.
After a series of near-misses and heartbreaks, Russell and Williams teammate Nicholas Latifi made the most of the carnage to earn the team its first double-points finish since 2018.
In footage released by F1’s official Twitter account, Russell was seen crying when talking to the Hungarian TV station, Duna.
We're all with you, @GeorgeRussell63!
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 1, 2021
x Duna TV#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/GK8jKArzYG
Reflecting on Williams ending its points drought, he said: “It means more than just scoring our first points. It’s three years of hard work, dedication, tough moments… tough, tough moments. Personally for everybody in the team. I’m emotional. It’s weird. It’s more than what the result today shows.
“I think… it shows it has been worth it, shows you should never give up. We’ve got here because when we were last in every single race in 2019 we didn’t stop fighting. If we stopped fighting in 2019 now in 2021 we’ve got a faster car, maybe we wouldn’t have been on the top of our game like we were today. It shows that no matter the situation there’s always something to learn, and you’ve just got to give it everything every time out there.”
Latifi says the chaotic opening lap where he went from 18th to sixth, before moving up to third in the pit stop phase, “sealed” the result for Williams.
“Super happy, coming into the race is definitely not, it’s what we could have hoped for but probably not what was realistic,” Latifi added. “I guess the start sealed it all, just avoiding the carnage, then making the right call, as soon as we pulled away for the restart within two corners I was like yeah it is slicks we have to pit, I mean it is like if no one else does it and you’re the only one you give away a good starting place but it was clear, a lot of people pitted also, yeah just focused on my own race.
“I mean I know I didn’t have the pace to stick to the guys in front when I was P3 so made sure I got my tyres to the end, I struggled with them and got hit quite hard. Double points for the team, amazing, P8 in the championship, best we could have hoped for.”
