George Russell “I wouldn’t be myself if I had been offered a BMW”[F1-Gate .com]

George Russell said motorsport carriers could have taken a different path if they had received a lucrative offer from BMW before signing the Mercedes F1 junior program.

George Russell, who decided to move to Mercedes F1 in 2022, spoke openly about his early career options. At first, he declined sponsorship from Mercedes at the European F3 Championship and chose Carlin and Forskwagen. At the time, I thought it was the best option for me.

But when George Russell was 16, there was a big turning point. After being impressed by the private test that he ran faster than the reference driver of the day, a big offer from BMW to race in DTM came in.

George Russell reveals that Mercedes F1 team representative Toto Wolff had said he had gone the wrong way in F3, but thought it would not completely end his relationship with the team. ..

“After meeting Toto in early 2015, I told him,’I’m really grateful for the meeting. Thank you for all the advice. I have something to tell you … I’m actually attending Carlin and Volkswagen. I believe it’s good for my career, “he sent an email,” George Russell told Motor Sport Magazine.

“I had the opinion that if you did a good job, Mercedes would still be interested.” He said, “I think you’re making the wrong decision, but keep in touch and where from there. Let’s see if we’re going. “

Later, Mercedes sent another offer to join the junior program, but in fact rival BMW was looking for a deal with teenage George Russell.

George Russell has received an offer from BMW to compete in a full-time DTM, and Mercedes has finally announced that the relationship will end once he chooses BMW.

Mercedes’ contract wasn’t “concrete,” but George Russell’s bet on pursuing his path was right in his career.

“Mercedes-Benz was pretty obvious. If you signed with BMW, you wouldn’t have an option with Mercedes in the future …’If you sign a deal with BMW, we’ll withdraw.'”

“BMW offered to race in DTM. It was the best championship after F1 at the time.

“So I signed this deal from BMW and entered DTM. This was probably the best championship after F1 at the time. At that time I was 16 and had a lot of money on the table. Everything was really shocking. Everything came suddenly. The test went incredibly well. The deal was at the table three days later. “

“I didn’t have much communication with the F1 team and the conversation with Toto was positive, but I wasn’t really sure if that would lead to anything, but this is what’s on the table right now and makes a decision. I needed to. Suddenly Mercedes called me, but nothing concrete was offered. It was “I have to take a chance.”

“They might look back and say’I’m sorry’, but then the BMW door closed, but the big difference is that this was a Mercedes, it was an F1 and the BMW was a DTM.”

“At the age of 17, I had to take that risk. If it didn’t work, I might regret it, but it worked.”

Jage Russell is currently moving to Mercedes F1 to partner with Lewis Hamilton in 2022, preparing for the season he expects to be the most “intense” of his life in 2022.

Add this entry to Hatena Bookmark

Category: Category: F1 / George Russell / Mercedes

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.