Imagine if you will, that you are George Russell. He has quietly become one of the sport’s more experienced drivers. By the end of the season, he’ll have raced in more Grands Prix than Niki Lauda.

Williams gave Russell his start in F1, in the bad old days, clunking around at the back of the grid, never troubling the scorers or the headlines on your first tour of the world. The car is at least, reliable, and he only suffers two retirements, even getting as high and 11th in Hockenheim, only for his teammate to steal that elusive point, maybe without a phone in the cockpit.

A second season back in the Williams is curtailed by COVID and F1 tries to get going again. A rare trip to Tuscany gives him another eleventh place before the coronavirus takes out the King (excuse the pun), with Lewis Hamilton stepping aside. Mercedes choose Russell to have some work experience in Bahrain, and he was in contention for the win were it not for a dodgy pit stop. Eventually, he gets a first points finish and turns some heads with a composed ninth place.

Fast forward to 2021 and a midseason streak puts Williams on the board, including a masterful wet qualifying session for a Belgian Grand Prix that is abandoned, technically giving him a podium.

A year later than he wanted, he moves to Mercedes as the rules change and he’s alongside Hamilton. As the Mercedes helps bring the word porpoising into the dictionary and the team is still stung by Abu Dhabi, Russell is finally where he should be but the rest of the team is shellshocked and can’t challenge for the title, with the exception of his first win.

He picks up a few wins in the coming years as F1 discusses the next ruleset and by 2025, Hamilton has gone. Russell is now the team leader as Kimi Antonelli joins him at the top team, skipping the apprenticeship of a back marker team. Mercedes ace the divisive ruleset and Russell looks set to be a title favourite, winning in Melbourne.

But as Round 4 passes, it’s Antonelli who is leading by 20 points as the rest of the field threatens to catch up. Russell has waited for years, and despite a promise of no mind games, it is looking like Antonelli is the title favourite with three consecutive wins.

And to say Russell has waited, well, he has also watched. Russell’s first year in the WIlliams was the same first year as Alex Albon and Lando Norris. Albon, after a struggle, is with a Williams team unrecognisable from Russell’s time, and Norris’ McLaren have resurrected themselves to be a champion team led by Lando.

By starting with Williams, Russell was waiting for greatness, working with Hamilton allowed him to witness greatness, and seeing Norris win a title before him meant he has watched greatness. Now, the w that might elude him is winning, as Antonelli threatens to pull away from his teammate in The Silver War 2.0.

The Italian teenager has raced fewer Grands Prix than Stoffel Vandoorne (41), Jolyon Palmer (35) or more than 200 other drivers, but Mercedes have clearly got a driver who has adjusted to the regulations better than most. A third consecutive win in Miami put him in esteemed company. Only 23 drivers have won at least three in a row. Only two of those 23 don’t have a world title. Stirling Moss and Oscar Piastri.

Antonelli’s win in Shanghai meant he became the second youngest driver to win a race (Max, obviously) and his rise only seems to be continuing, holding a 20-point lead as the travelling circus heads to Montreal. But was Miami the start of Russell’s decline or just a bad week. Russell will tell you he should be stronger in Canada.

Russell took a hat-trick in Canada last year, converting a pole to a win and getting a fastest lap in the process. He knows how to win in Canada and it looks like he needs it, on what is another sprint weekend.

There is one more wrinkle in this, with Toto Wolff and his open courting of Max Verstappen last year. Given the choice, Wolff would have sacrificed Russell to make room for Max, and the emnity between Russell and Verstappen is well-documented in any case. The relatively straitlaced Russell would have potentially been the odd one out on the grid, and he seems as far removed from the off-track profile that the Forevr Rebllious Red Bull would be looking for.

Eventually, Russell got a “multi-year” contract which gets extended if he hits certain metrics. No one is sure what those metrics are, but it would be a surprise at this point if Russell becomes a clear number two driver in a battle he can win when he has waited many years for his chance. 

All the headlines in 2026 are video game references.

One of the phrases from video games that has truly crossed over into the mainstream. Press Start on the second controller pad during Street Fighter II and here comes a new challenger. You’ll know that already, but this remix album from 2008 is a great nostalgic listen.