<\/p>
Martin Brundle believes George Russell boasts the confidence necessary to flourish at Mercedes ahead of the new Formula 1 season in 2022.<\/p>\n
The Sky F1 expert believes the young British star has the all makings of a great driver and has backed him not to crumble under the pressure.<\/p>\n
Russell has impressed racing for Mercedes on two occasions in recent years as a stand-in due to COVID absences but now has the chance to go all the way and compete for titles after landing a permanent seat alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Brundle cracked out a gardening analogy to describe how he feels when new drivers are thrown into the F1 melting pot.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe pressure will be intense. It\u2019s like a bright light on a flower, like intense heat on a flower. Some flowers flourish, others wilt and die. I think George has got the confidence to handle it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s certainly got the talent and he\u2019s got a feel, a touch and a gift behind the wheel of a racing car. I have no doubt about that and the speed and the fitness. And he knows the team \u2013 he\u2019s not stepping into an all-new team. He knows them all so well because of his years there as a junior driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got the best chance of anybody and I\u2019m expecting great things from him.<\/p>
\u201cI also imagine in the early stages he\u2019ll be looking at some of Lewis\u2019 data and thinking, \u201cWhat? How is he doing that?\u201d as we\u2019ve seen in the past with Michael [Schumacher].<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest challenge is turning up every weekend and being absolutely on it and having your A game. That\u2019s what Lewis and the real championship contenders just keep doing, they keep turning up and delivering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will be the hardest thing for George. You can have an off weekend in a Williams at the back of the grid. You can\u2019t in a Mercedes at the front of the grid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch every race of the 2022 F1 season exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 and NOW \u2013\u00a0sign up for Sky Sports here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch, check out our\u00a0<\/b>TV Guid<\/b>e<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or visit our Sport<\/a> hub.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Michael Potts Published: Friday, 18 March 2022 at 12:00 am Martin Brundle believes George Russell boasts the confidence necessary to flourish at Mercedes ahead of the new Formula 1 season in 2022. The Sky F1 expert believes the young British star has the all makings of a great driver and has backed him not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":12440,"template":"","categories":[1,7,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/f1s-george-russell-wont-wilt-like-flower-in-intense-heat-martin-brundle.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/f1s-george-russell-wont-wilt-like-flower-in-intense-heat-martin-brundle-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/f1s-george-russell-wont-wilt-like-flower-in-intense-heat-martin-brundle-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/f1s-george-russell-wont-wilt-like-flower-in-intense-heat-martin-brundle.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/f1s-george-russell-wont-wilt-like-flower-in-intense-heat-martin-brundle.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/f1s-george-russell-wont-wilt-like-flower-in-intense-heat-martin-brundle.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/03\/f1s-george-russell-wont-wilt-like-flower-in-intense-heat-martin-brundle.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Michael Potts Published: Friday, 18 March 2022 at 12:00 am Martin Brundle believes George Russell boasts the confidence necessary to flourish at Mercedes ahead of the new Formula 1 season in 2022. The Sky F1 expert believes the young British star has the all makings of a great driver and has backed him not…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/12439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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