Unstable Williams drains George Russell's confidence

George Russell

Unstable Williams drains Russell's confidence

"I have always been confident on first laps" - Russell puts poor starts down to lack of stability

Ewan Gale

Thursday 13 August 2020 17:03 Updated: 17:34

Williams driver George Russell has admitted a 'lack of stability' in the FW43 has left him struggling for confidence at the start of races and in when fighting in traffic.

Russell has reached the second phase of qualifying at every race in 2020 save for the season opening Austrian Grand Prix, but the Briton has struggled to make his strong starting positions count.

He explained: “Just simply, the car isn’t as stable as it should be.

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“Both myself and Nicholas [Latifi] are really struggling with the stability of the car when we’re following others. Especially at the beginning when you’re following a gaggle of cars, the car is a bit all over the place and we’re really working on that to improve it.

“We see in the data, we lose a lot of downforce, more than we should, and ultimately as a driver, you’re driving to that limit, but that limit is much lower.

“I always wake up on a Sunday morning raring and confident to send it, but as soon as you get there it’s tricky for whatever reason."

For Russell, the problem is a strange one as he claims his starts has often been one of the stronger aspects of his racecraft. “Like I say, it’s – for me it’s not been like that in my junior career," he continued.

"I’ve always been happy, confident, comfortable on first laps. Statistically, I always was moving forwards on first laps, and it’s just not the same at the moment.

“I’m working as hard as I can to rectify that.”

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