Why “hungry” Russell accepts he needs to bide his time for an F1 title bid

George Russell says the long wait for a Mercedes title challenge has made him “more hungry than ever” for success in Formula 1.

Russell has been part of the Mercedes set up since joining its junior programme in 2017, and after waltzing through title-winning campaigns in GP3 and F2 Russell looked like the natural heir to Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows.

Russell served three seasons on loan at struggling Williams, at a time when Mercedes was still the dominant force in F1. But as the Briton joined the Brackley team’s line-up alongside Hamilton in 2022, the squad struggled to consistently challenge at the front with the ground-effect machinery, which further tested his patience.

Meanwhile, Russell’s former junior series rival Lando Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri started stringing together wins as McLaren took over the baton from Red Bull.

With four wins and six poles to his name over seven years, Russell is aware of that unrealised potential, as he approaches his peak with an impressive combination of speed and consistency over the first half of the 2025 campaign.

When asked by Autosport if that long wait for a championship-level car has fired him up even more, he replied: “Yeah, for sure. I’m definitely more hungry than ever just to try and perform.

“I would have hoped by now, seven seasons in, I would have at least had a year of fighting for a championship. When I joined Mercedes, we thought every year would be a championship fight. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way.

“It’s been the same for Charles [Leclerc] as well. Arguably, nobody would have predicted two years ago McLaren would have made this step. Lando did five years with them and had no Why “hungry” Russell accepts he needs to bide his time for an F1 title bid fights either. So, you’ve just got to accept the fact that that is the nature of F1. That’s always been the case.

“And you look at Michael Schumacher, he was in his fifth year with Ferrari, in his 30s, before he won a championship with them. I’m 27, so I’ve still got a bit of time on my side.”

Russell has taken one victory in 2025 so far, as Mercedes found the perfect track conditions in Canada to take a double podium with Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and he headed into the summer break with five further podiums thanks to a third place in Hungary.

Mercedes’ improved Budapest form vindicated its decision to revert to an older rear suspension version and confirmed its theory that it had gone in the wrong development direction.

But Russell pointed out its suspension wasn’t the only reason why it has been difficult for its heat-sensitive cars, and he felt like only two of his four early season podiums were really claimed on merit.

Lando Norris, McLaren, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

“Clearly there was a bit of a mishap in that [suspension], and something not working as we anticipated,” added Russell, who sits fourth in the drivers’ standings on 172 points. “We clearly have struggled in hot races. At the start of the year we were in spring, and now we’re in summer, that’s another factor. I think everything was just sort of going our way at the start of the year, to be honest.

“I had four podiums in the first six, but probably only two of them were truly deserved, I would say. Obviously, Melbourne was Piastri going off. In Miami, we had the VSC playing into our hands. Then the China P3 was a fair result and Bahrain was a great result. That was the best race of the year, probably, except Canada.”

By the time the F1 paddock reconvenes in Zandvoort at the end of August, it is expected Russell will have signed an extension to his expiring Mercedes contract that removes any lingering doubt over his F1 future, with Antonelli also expected to be retained.