George Russell fears British GP will be 'back to reality' for Williams

Williams

Russell fears British GP will be 'back to reality' for Williams

British driver has reached Q2 in last two races

Ian Parkes

Wednesday 29 July 2020 11:01

George Russell is concerned it will be 'back to reality' for Williams this British Grand Prix weekend and a return towards qualifying at the rear of the grid.

Williams has stunned F1 over the past two races with its one-lap pace as Russell qualified 12th in both atrocious conditions at the Red Bull Ring for the Styrian Grand Prix, and a week later in the dry at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

With team-mate Nicholas Latifi also reaching Q2 in Hungary, Williams celebrated both cars reaching the session for the first time since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix. Race pace, however, has not been on par as Williams has slipped back through the field.

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For Silverstone, Russell fears the track will not suit his car as he said: "I think our pace won’t be quite as strong as we saw in Budapest. In Hungary we well and truly exceeded expectations, and things were working really well for us in qualifying.

"[At Silverstone] I expect us to go back to our reality which is probably a more similar pace to what we saw in the first week of Austria [when Russell and Latifi failed to make it out of Q1]. Nevertheless, myself and the team will be giving it all we have got."

Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson has confirmed the FW43 will at least be sporting updates to ensure the gaps to its rivals are kept to a minimum on what is a fast, flowing circuit.

"We made good progress with the car during the opening three rounds of the season and were able to achieve some good qualifying performances at both venues," said Robson.

"We are now in a good position to push the performance of the FW43 harder on race day as we look to score our first points of the season.

"Silverstone will be a difficult challenge, but with some new parts becoming available following testing in Austria and Hungary, we are looking to maintain our early season momentum and continuing to close the gap to the leading teams."

For Russell, regardless of whatever performance he achieves, one of the additional difficulties he faces over the next two weekends - as Silverstone hosts the 70th Anniversary GP following the British - will be performing on his home circuit without spectators.

"It is going to be a strange feeling going to Silverstone for my home grand prix without any fans," said Russell.

"I am incredibly excited to go driving again at one of the best circuits of the year though, as it is always a joy to drive around Silverstone and I will be giving it everything I have got."

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