Russell towards Spa
At Silverstone George Russell and Charles Leclerc were helped by that luck which in other circumstances had turned its back on them. On the home circuit, the Brit took advantage of Kimi Antonelli‘s zero to go to -25 from his teammate, while the Monegasque returned to victory after almost two years.
Read more Leclerc: “Ferrari is pushing like never before”
After the checkered flag, Russell and Leclerc joked in the cooldown room saying “Who would have thought?”. Two weeks later, at Spa-Francorchamps, #63 put that scene into context revealing a behind-the-scenes story that saw him as the protagonist precisely with Leclerc.
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Russell’s words
“Charles and I exchanged messages between Friday’s free practice and the sprint qualifying. I won’t go into the details of our conversation, but those words were a reference precisely to what we were discussing on Friday. It was a really spontaneous moment“, these are Russell’s words.
Beyond the result, Silverstone also showed Russell that Antonelli is giving better feedback in terms of pace. #63 admits it: “I have to go faster. The positive thing is that I have never finished a weekend without understanding where the pace was. It has always been clear from the data. In the past, I have seen other drivers or former teammates who, when they couldn’t keep up the pace, scratched their heads trying to understand why. I know exactly why I don’t win or am not on pole, but I can’t get the car to that optimal point. In 2025 I felt I could often exploit 100% of the potential. Now I manage it much less frequently“. And when asked why this task is so difficult for him, Russell answers in his own way: “It’s as if someone asked you to draw the Mona Lisa and you had it right next to you. Do you think you could do it immediately? With these new cars I find myself having to set up the car in a way that doesn’t fit my driving style. I know what I have to do, but on track it’s another story to manage to do it after driving for 20 years in a certain way with a method that has always worked, while now it only works 50% of the time“.
