Lando Norris says George Russell has lost his “fun” personality since joining Mercedes at the start of this year.
The former Williams driver has made a big impression in 2022, finishing in the top five at every race he’s finished and currently leads teammate Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship.
However, Norris feels that the environment at Mercedes has prevented Russell from showing his true self.
“My manager, my trainer, my parents, have always tried to keep me as me, rather than try to shape me,” the McLaren driver told the Press Association.
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“I see other drivers get shaped more because of who they are with, the teams they are with, and I don’t think that is a good thing. It takes away their personality.
“Growing up with George for instance, was a lot of fun. He was a great person, but it is different at Mercedes – a different vibe and a different atmosphere. I just don’t see as fun a side of him.
“George is a great person, and I feel like the personality he had a few years ago, he would be even more popular.
“I don’t think it is Mercedes’ fault but the pressure of being with Mercedes, and having Lewis as a teammate, is never going to be an easy thing,” Norris conceded.
“You don’t want to be seen to be having a fun time and playing around, but on the other side there are no complaints because George is doing an amazing job this year, so it is working for him.”
Speaking on the recent Beyond the Grid podcast, Russell spoke about his first three years in F1 at Williams, and how felt trapped with the Grove-based team.
“I think when we signed with Williams back in 2018, this was a team, bearing in mind, that had just spent three years scoring podiums, finishing P3, P3, P5 in the constructors’, and then they had a very bad year in 2018 where they finished last,” he explained via Formula1.com.
“But we thought that this was a team that, at the time, can bounce back from this, and they’ll be back in the P5 to P3 region of competitiveness. So, we all sort of agreed that three years was a good period, fighting for points, maybe for podiums.
“In hindsight, three years driving on my own at the back of the grid was too long. But, unfortunately, Claire [Williams, former Deputy Team Principal] did quite a good job at the contract negotiations, and there was sort of no way out.”
At the same time, the 24-year-old also admits an earlier move to Mercedes, despite stepping in at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, may also have backfired.
“When I look at this with the benefit of hindsight, I think joining Mercedes last year or even in 2020 would’ve been incredibly tough,” he added.
“Because going up against Lewis when that car has been evolved to suit his style of driving over so many years, that was his baby as such.
“Whereas now it’s a fresh sheet of paper for everybody, everybody is starting from scratch, and this was probably the right time.”
