Williams taking gambles would be "treacherous" and "demoralising" - George Russell

Williams

Williams taking gambles would be "treacherous" and "demoralising" - Russell

Russell warns against following Haas into strategy risks ahead of new F1 season

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Thursday 25 March 2021 15:00

Williams driver George Russell has warned that taking gambles with race strategy in an attempt to score points this season would be "treacherous" and "demoralising".

The team has failed to score a single point since Robert Kubica benefitted from wild conditions at the 2019 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, with both Russell and team-mate Nicholas Latifi narrowly missing out on multiple occasions last season.

While Haas has frequently attempted to thrust itself into the top 10 with alternate strategies and, on occasion, succeeding, Russell has insisted Williams will remain true to itself and follow the optimum simulated race plan.

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When asked if he would like to follow Haas' lead, Russell replied: "That can be a very treacherous approach and can be very demoralising.

"If you are going into every single Sunday putting all your chips on green and hoping for the best, then 22 out of 23 times it is not going to pay off.

"We have great strategists, we have a great race team and great simulations and we just need to go out there and get the best possible result.

"If something happens in the middle of the race and we see things maybe aren't quite going our way, a safety car in the middle then maybe we will.

"If we are on the back row - like Haas [at the Hungarian Grand Prix last year] - if it was 2019 I probably would have pitted on the formation lap because that would have put us into the points."

Despite remaining pointless throughout 2020, Williams made a positive step forward to at least be competitive, with Russell consistently qualifying for the second session on Saturdays.

The British driver, who scored his own maiden points when driving for Mercedes at the Sakhir Grand Prix last year, is not expecting a strong showing at this weekend's Bahrain GP but has pointed to following races as a test of the team's competitiveness.

"I do believe we have a more competitive car this season," he said. "I don't think it will be shown in Bahrain this week.

"We have just got to go out there every weekend and do the best job possible and see what comes from it."