Russell gets "goosebumps" as Mercedes complete storm-hit shakedown

George Russell has revealed the fire-up of the Mercedes W13 for his first shakedown as a works driver gave him "goosebumps" as the team battled horrendous conditions at Silverstone.

The British driver made his first appearance in the new challenger that was launched ahead of the shakedown ahead of his maiden season alongside Lewis Hamilton following his promotion from Williams.

Speaking during a media call involving GPFans, Russell explained: "It gave me goosebumps as the car was fired up for the first time.

"I have driven so many laps on the simulator, I have seen so many drawings of it, had so many meetings on it but there is nothing like going to a race track.

"It almost brings me back to my roots, a cold, wet, windy day at Silverstone but here, with Mercedes."

Mercedes' first run with the car built to F1's radically altered regulations came on a day the UK had largely been shut down by Storm Eunice, with extremely high winds causing damage to infrastructure throughout the country.

Addressing the conditions, Russell said: "I would say it is the windiest day I have ever experienced in the whole of my motorsports career. It was absolutely crazy.

"The facts are that when you take a car when there is no wind and then you put it in 100kph winds, it is going to feel very difficult to drive.

"It certainly wasn't easy out there with the conditions but it was very much in line with what we saw in the simulator. We will go back and correlate it this afternoon but it is going to be a constant learning process.

"We are all going to take this with a pinch of salt, get through the programme and make sure the car runs okay, the drivers are comfortable and we are in the best spot possible ahead of Barcelona."

F1 2022 starts here. ?? pic.twitter.com/ouFogErXxB

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 18, 2022

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