Williams would be 'made to look stupid and eaten alive' with reverse grid races - George Russell

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Williams would be 'made to look stupid and eaten alive' with reverse grid races - Russell

The Briton is firmly against the proposal

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Thursday 10 September 2020 14:43 Updated: 15:17

George Russell has reiterated his anti-reverse grid stance as he feels Williams would be "made to look stupid" with Formula 1's proposal.

The topic of reverse grids was reignited last weekend following Pierre Gasly's shock victory at Monza, a race that at one point featured an AlphaTauri, a Racing Point, two McLarens and an Alfa Romeo in the top six.

But even though his Williams team could stand to profit by scoring points, Russell stood firm on his beliefs, claiming such an idea would be more appealing the further up the grid you look.

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"I am against it," he said. "The fact is, we are in one of the slowest cars on the grid and we would sort of get eaten alive.

"We will be defending like crazy to try and hold the faster cars off who are behind us, but as drivers, we will be made to look a little bit stupid because ultimately you will be battling against guys who will be in cars much, much quicker than yours.

"They can brake 10 metres later into a corner and lunge you from really far back. If I was in one of the top cars, I would really, really want it because it would make those drivers look like heroes, lunging from miles back purely because they are in a superior car."

Although Russell acknowledged he would "probably get some points" if the reverse grids were implemented, he concluded the change would actually be of detriment to the team's image.

"Obviously, I know we would probably get some points or get a good result at some point with a reverse grid," he continued.

"But for our image, not just me and Nicholas [Latifi] but the Haas guys, the Alfa Romeo guys, it is just impossible racing cars that are so much faster than yours. That's where I stand."

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