🇦🇹 Formula 1 2021: R8 – Ruining Mr Saturday's graduation party

@F1

It’s really difficult to get closer to Q3 than George Russell got to in Austria. A few turns of a Pirelli tyre from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll knocked the British Williams driver out by 0.008 seconds - an almost immeasurably small amount of time.

This season, the Brit has continued to out-qualify his Williams teammate, as he has done on every F1 race he’s driven for the famous team. But this season feels a bit different. A better car, combined with an evolving driver, means the expectation levels are a bit higher than they used to be. Now, there is a real chance of George Russell getting into the top-10 shootout in qualifying. 

Here’s a look at how close it’s been this season. Other than Bahrain, which was a disaster, and to a lesser extent Barcelona, Russell has been desperately close to getting into Q3. 

And the 23-year-old has been riding a wave of positive momentum, with several media sources saying this will be his last season at Williams, as Mercedes look to replace Valtteri Bottas. He even showed some anger in Imola, spending some time in the Finn’s face after they clattered at high speed. In France, he finished 12th on merit - that is, no retirements, and a near-anonymous performance. Russell has normalised the expectation of Williams not being at the back. It was his, and Williams, highest finish of the season to date, acting as the tiebreaker between themselves and Haas, with both sides still searching for those elusive points.

But while the American outfit won’t be getting any points any time soon, the buzz continues to grow around Williams. And George Russell started the first race in Austria in 10th after Yuki Tsunoda took a three-place grid penalty. Despite having free tyre choice, it didn’t end well for him, with a mechanical problem forcing multiple pit stops and eventually, a retirement when things seemed so promising.

It was another occasion when Mr. Saturday’s graduation party was ruined, and it feels like he might be a little bit cursed. In 2019, his then-teammate Robert Kubica capitalised on an error from Russell a handful of laps towards the end, before disqualifications put the Williams pair 10th and 11th. Running in the points in Imola in 2020, he crashed under the safety car. In Tuscany, with nearly half the grid out, he was one more retirement away from taking that first point.

Even when he is given the best machinery on the grid, shenanigans stopped him from a potential podium. While on work experience (replacing a COVID-19 stricken Lewis Hamilton for a race) with Mercedes in Bahrain in 2020, a tyre error meant he had to make an extra stop, followed by a puncture, eventually finishing ninth, alongside the extra point for fastest lap.

So onto next week, and the quest to break his duck continues. It would normally be a disaster for a driver to take part in 45 Formula 1 races without getting a point, but when that person has brought back excitement, focus and -  most importantly - hope to a team that might have lost some in its worst days, sometimes the points become secondary.

They should come by the end of the season, although one note of caution. Russell has finished 11th twice in F1, with those finishes just outside the points in Germany and Tuscany. F1 isn’t going back to those tracks (at the time of writing) this season, so he won’t be able to rely on his past performances and build back slightly better. But perhaps with a capacity Silverstone crowd willing him on, the British Grand Prix (previous finishes 14th, 12th, 18th), could be the race to target. 

As for the first week of the double feature in Austria, Max Verstappen extended his championship lead from Lewis Hamilton with a fourth consecutive win for Red Bull. Valtteri Bottas in third, Sergio Perez in fourth, Lando Norris in fifth and the two Ferrari drivers finishing in the points. The new world order of Formula 1, if you like. But while Verstappen gets one step closer to a one-race lead in the standings, the other end of the ladder is also worth watching. Of all four drivers looking to lose their zero, only George Russell seems like he’s going to do it. 

Watching his progress for the rest of the season is going to be fascinating.

PREVIOUSLY THIS SEASON:

🇫🇷 Round 7: Staying positive

🇦🇿 Round 6: The award for Best Supporting Driver

🇲🇨 Round 5: The enjoyment of a genuine three-way battle

📈 Formula 2, Formula 3 and W Series: Why F1's support races are great

🇪🇸 Round 4: Getting out-thought if not outfought

🇵🇹 Round 3: Portimão and the benefits of a rule change

🏁 The pros and cons of sprint qualifying

🇮🇹 Round 2: Max Verstappen and the Italian curse

🇧🇭 Round 1: Bahrain and comparing qualifying pace with 2020

🔮 Four odd predictions for F1 2021