The F1 overtake that secured a full-time racing seat after shock Lewis Hamilton absence

George Russell has opened up on the key moment he believes secured his move from Williams to Mercedes.

The Brit spent three seasons with Williams at the start of his F1 career, building his reputation despite often being stuck towards the back of the grid.

His audition for Mercedes came in 2020, when Lewis Hamilton was forced to miss the Bahrain Grand Prix after testing positive for Covid.

Russell was drafted in as a one-off replacement, jumping from the slowest car on the grid into the dominant Mercedes W11 and immediately made a huge impression.

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Russell reflects on Mercedes audition

Speaking to F1.com as he reached 100 races with Mercedes, Russell looked back on that Bahrain weekend and admitted it still stands out as one of the most important moments of his career.

“If somebody’s only watched my last few races in F1, and then they were told to watch that Bahrain race, they’d think I’ve got the worst luck in the world!” Russell said.

Russell came close to taking pole from Valtteri Bottas, led much of the race and looked on course for victory before a fatal pit stop and a late puncture destroyed his chances of a fairytale race win.

But even though the win disappeared for Russell, he believes one move on Bottas carried huge significance.

“I think this overtake was key for my future with Mercedes,” Russell added as he looked at a picture of him moving past the Finn.

“Even though it wasn’t built up to be a head-to-head of Valtteri versus myself, everybody knew that I was gunning to try and take over his seat.

“When I saw the opportunity to make the pass on him around the outside, I took it.”

Russell secured Mercedes future

Russell eventually joined Mercedes full-time in 2022, replacing Bottas and becoming Hamilton’s team-mate.

His Sakhir chance did not end with the victory it deserved, but it proved that he belonged at the Silver Arrows.

“It felt awesome at the time, but it was a race where we could have comfortably been stood on the top step,” Russell said.

“We led the whole race until the safety car, wrong tyres, puncture… hence the emotions thereafter.”

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