George Russell’s busy schedule for his first year at Mercedes F1 was “a shock” for him, as he confided recently.
With 60 days dedicated to off-track activities (simulation, marketing, factory meetings), not counting physical training, the Briton admitted he was drained after Abu Dhabi.
Fatigue was at its peak at the end of that 22-race campaign when he was done with the Austin/Mexico double, attended the Las Vegas Grand Prix launch event, returned to the UK for a simulator job and then flown to the Brazilian Grand Prix Premio in which he would score his first F1 win.
“Yeah, it was probably too much. Too much to be honest,” Admet Russell.
“I knew it was going to be tough in that sense and when I look at the calendar, the end of the season is still very challenging when you’re in a top team. At Williams I didn’t have all this, H24. Live Mercedes, sleep Mercedes, think Mercedes. I’m sure of it again this winter.
“At the end of the day I’m here, in F1, I’m a driver in a big team and that’s what I want. Obviously there’s probably a better balance to be found but we can’t race without our sponsors, they’re one of the main reasons why the team is so successful, we can’t run well without a simulator, without meetings, without training…”
“So like I said, you just have to find that good balance and you learn from experience that you might not want to go to the events before this race because this race was more strenuous than anywhere else.”
“Having events, making sure they’re as logistically convenient as possible, so they don’t wear you down so much, that’s important. You know, those last 15 laps in Brazil, the pressure, the intensity of the race, it was mentally and physically tiring with all those days behind me from Austin”.
“You’re breathing really hard – I’d like to know what my average heart rate was, but I’m sure it’s been well over 180 for the last 15/20 minutes, non-stop, it’s like I’m sprinting.”
“So there are times like those where you wish you could do a little more in the gym and be a little more fit than marketing. But no matter how fit you are, it’s always going to be tough. This is F1.”
