George Russell is seeing the potential long-term positives from his latest disappointment at Williams.
In the Styrian Grand Prix a week ago, the Briton finally appeared on course to score his first points at the Grove-based team as he ran in P8 in the first stint.
Unfortunately, his hopes would be dashed by a power unit issue initially dropping him down the field due to pit-stops before eventually pulling in to retire.
“It’s just typical isn’t it?” Russell said via Crash.net, reflecting on the incident on Thursday.
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“It doesn’t happen in the two years when we’re last in every race but the one time we’re truly in the points. We were on course for a good result, we were on the right strategy, the car was feeling good, we were really fast on Friday - such a shame.
“But let’s see, this is Formula 1, it’s never meant to be easy. It’s a brutal sport at times.”
The upside to the setbacks though, at least in Russell's view, is that it prepares him to deal with possible adversity when the stakes are higher later in his career.
“Mentally, [it’s] very difficult," he continued.
“I think my first year I took it in my stride because I was just so excited to be in Formula 1 and learning so much, and obviously now into my first year I just feel ready to score some good result, and I feel the team really deserve it with the progress they’ve been making.
“But mentally it’s not easy. We’re all winners, and all here to win, and it has been a bit of a rollercoaster this past year. Imola last year, Mugello last year, Bahrain obviously [with Mercedes], and then Imola again this year - it’s been a lot of difficult races to deal with.
“I feel fortunate because hopefully in the future having the chance to fight for victories and world championships, I’ve experienced a lot more disappointments than others, so it’ll make me mentally stronger and actually help me in the difficult moments in the future because for sure there will be some.”
Russell doesn't have to wait long for possible redemption though as F1 will finish its first tripleheader of the year with the second race in Austria.
And while the 23-year-old does see a solid opportunity to be near the top 10 again, he also hopes Williams can carry the momentum forward.
“I think we just have so much confidence at the moment that we’re doing a good job, especially on the Saturday,” he explained.
“We’ve had some really strong performances, and that confidence comes into me, then goes into the team, we’re understanding the car more and more, and it’s little things that make a big difference.
“There’s one-tenth splitting five to eight cars or whatever, on a track as short as this, it’s about minimising those mistakes and if you do a good job you can jump quite far up the order.
“Last weekend it was bizarrely not windy at all, the weekend before it was tricky with the tyres, we were strong for other reasons.
"I truly hope this can carry on, but until we get back to a more normal circumstance, longer circuits, and maybe windier conditions, we will then see the new true performance of the car.
“But until then let’s try and make the most of it and try and score some points this weekend.”
