George Russell says not scoring points in 2021 with Williams would not be considered a failure.
Last weekend, power unit issues ended the Briton’s best chance yet to finally claim a top 10 finish for the Grove-based team at the Styrian Grand Prix.
And the disappointment was clear when he spoke to the media.
“I’m just gutted for the team, to be honest,” a clearly despondent Russell said via Formula1.com.
“You know, they’ve worked so hard to be in this position over the past three years, chasing these points. We never really knew when they would come and we knew we’d have to have a perfect weekend and, you know, we were in such a great position – P8, on the medium tyre – we would have been able to pounce at the end.
“And I think P7 was probably possible, ahead of [Fernando] Alonso and there’s four or six points. It is massive, it’s the difference probably between P8 and P10 in the championship.
“I was driving my heart out, driving as fast as I could to keep behind the Ferrari and AlphaTauri and McLaren, you know? We’re not normally in this position so we should be proud of the job we did. Racing is just brutal.”
This weekend Russell does get a second chance at the Red Bull Ring, but he’s coy on whether he and Williams can be in the same position to score.
“Yes of course,” he said on whether the second Austria race gives him “hope”.
“It’s obviously different, we have a different compound of tyres next week to play a big part into it all. But you know, we did things perfectly until that point and repeating that and relying on others to not do things perfectly is not easy.
“And that’s the thing for us, we know that these opportunities don’t come every day and we have to do everything great, and others need to make mistakes for us to capitalise and today was that day for us. This is racing, it’s not meant to be easy.”
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Russell’s latest near-miss came after he downplayed whether points were a necessity this season, given he is trying to prove himself worthy of a seat at Mercedes for 2022.
“It doesn’t bother me, no, but it’s certainly a goal. That is the target,” he told Autosport Magazine.
“If we end this season pointless – I would not have seen this season as a failure. If we end the season with some points, I think it would have been a great success.
“Points for us is, effectively, like a win for McLaren. If McLaren goes this whole season without winning a race, they’re not gonna see that as a failure.
“If they do have a victory, that would have been a massive success. And that’s a really good way to look at it.”