George Rusell will be hoping to make something of a strong result come this weekend’s US Grand Prix, the very race where his teammate Kimi Antonellj could clinch his maiden F1 title. For a driver who’s
had more run ins with bad luck than he’s had with podiums facing grid penalties in addition to DNFs- Canada and Belgium- Russell will hope to contest a strong race.
For starters, he’d like to ensure that his is an error free race weekend, the first point for point scoring. Next up, he’d like to ideally have a top five finish on race Sunday, i.e., October 25. But for all of that to happen, the man from King’s Lynn will have to watch out for no fewer than 3 main contenders whose recent run of form has been, one would hate to exaggerate, brilliant.
Max Verstappen, for starters, has won two consecutive races beginning with the Sepang, Malaysia-held Bahrain Grand Prix followed by a maiden triumph at the Marina Bay of Singapore.
Then there’s either of the Ferrari drivers, both of whom have actually won races this year; whilst Hamilton, a five time winner at COTA lorded supreme at Barcelona, home to the Spanish Grand Prix, his teammate, Charles Leclerc, winner of the 2024 US GP held at COTA, claimed a fine win at Silverstone, British GP.
And that’s not all!
The young lad who last year set the fastest lap of the race at Austin, Kimi Antonelli, still a teenager in 2025 when he did so, would continue to challenge Russell, one of F1’s most decent battlers and a really talented one.
Though that told, in a sport ever wired in the ‘now’, there’s something else too, about the famed Austin bound US GP track that’ll come to perhaps feature in George Russell’s psyche.
He’s never previously achieved even a top 4 at this venue, forget bagging a single podium insofar where it comes to his record at COTA. The circuit known for being back bending and speedy punctuated by tricky elevation changes hasn’t quite seen George Russell ever at his dominant best.
This isn’t even randomspeak.
The best, therefore, that the young Mercedes talent has bagged at this venue is a P5. In both the 2022 and 2023 contests held at the famous Texas territory, Russell registered a fifth. However, in the years hence, his personal record at the noted American racing venue receded a touch; slipping further down to a P6.
Which is why scoring a podium, at the very least, will not only spur the fine Englishman further but will serve as a fervent example of the man who’s not exactly had a joyous season all along. A fantastic drive will boost the morale of the driver who has in him to rule the grid by sheer talent. However, you could ask anyone- whether George Russell’s own team principal Toto Wolff or the former Williams driver’s passionate supporters – one season doesn’t define you. At all. But one strong podium can lag the foundation to a strong path to recovery.
And as the current season actually draws to a close, George Russell, who’s bore the scorn of lost chances and grid penalties would quite like to be Reborn in the USA.
What do you reckon?
