George Russell’s defining year: Beat Verstappen and a proposal promise

It is the question that might determine George Russell’s life. Has he the cojones to win the world title?

‘Yes,’ declared the 28-year-old from King’s Lynn – and convincingly so in the view of this observer – ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the season he starts as favourite, in a Mercedes that paddock conjecture rates the cream of the crop under radical new regulations.

Fighting at the front of the field carries pressures Russell has not experienced in Formula One before, since he arrived at Williams in 2019, always in an inferior car, in the same season as defending champion Lando Norris at McLaren.

There is some needle between the two Brits, who were stars of the karting and junior firmaments, though Norris is two years younger. There is a bit of big brother to little brother in their fraternal jousting.

Their rivalry reared its head earlier in the week when Norris told Daily Mail Sport that Russell is ‘sneaky’. The big bro responded in the paddock to that dig, claiming that Norris is just the same.

‘Haha,’ said Russell. ‘Lando and I have a lot of banter. I’m always prodding him and winding him up with my public remarks. And I think he likes returning the favour. We often text each other after practice sessions, if one or other of us is looking quick, and we’re like, “You’re the favourite this weekend!”

‘But I take his comments as a compliment. And I feel good in myself. I guess that view is maybe mirrored from him.’

In other topics, Russell reveals that he may not have been here in Melbourne, at least not as easily, other than for his girlfriend Carmen Montero Mundt having gone down with appendicitis and requiring surgery in Oxford. Otherwise, they would have been in the Middle East, and restricted by the closure of air space in the war-blighted region. He also revealed that he is close to marrying his Spanish girlfriend of six years.

They met by chance, Russell standing in for a friend who could not make a dinner arrangement. She did not know who he was – she was not a Formula One fan back then, nor an attention seeker. They fell in love.

Nobody will ever forget him if he manages to achieve his ambition to win the world title. Evidence buttresses his claims.

Max Verstappen apart, he was the best driver last season, banging in brilliant performances consistently; dominating his much-vaunted teenage team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

That having beaten a certain Lewis Hamilton in two of their three seasons together; also having stood in for a Covid-hit Hamilton in Bahrain in 2020 and driven like a demon – a performance that is worth cherishing after he moved in at the 11th-hour from Williams into a Mercedes cockpit too small for him. He was only denied victory by a puncture.

On the question of his, er, constitution for the fight. As it was put to him, have you got the b***s?

‘I don’t need to say it.’

You believe you do?

‘I’ve said that all along.

‘I respect all the other drivers, but I’m not scared of any of them. And even the greatest driver who is on the grid at the moment (Verstappen) doesn’t worry me.

‘I’m not scared to go and be team-mates with him, or go wheel-to-wheel with him. Because that was a position I found myself in in 2022, when there was another certain guy (Hamilton) who was the greatest at that moment. I backed myself fully. And I think I’ve shown, especially the last two years, what I’m capable of achieving.

‘Last year was clearly my best year. And it doesn’t faze me at all these headlines of me being title favourite because I’ve told myself over these years, positive media comments or negative media comments, or fan comments, is honestly in one ear and out the other.

‘Because the good stuff doesn’t make me drive faster and it doesn’t make me go slower and the bad stuff doesn’t make you go faster or make you go slower. So, as a professional athlete, I’ve taught myself that this is locked in a little drawer. I just focus on what I can control.’

He was third-quickest in practice on Friday, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri fastest, Antonelli second. Hamilton was fourth. But most paddock people think Mercedes have more to offer, a belief that will be stood up or eroded in qualifying and, more so in the grand prix at a thronged Albert Park, where some informed engineers rate the Silver Arrows a second a lap faster than the rest.

The biggest embarrassment is Aston Martin’s. They are light years back. Team principal Adrian Newey is not convinced they will even make it to the end of the race, blaming Honda for supplying an engine that is deficient and which he said would give his drivers, 44-year-old Fernando Alonso and the owner’s son Lance Stroll, nerve damage with its vibrations.

It’s fine to point a finger at Honda to an extent, but the blame should be shared around. Newey is team principal and carries the can. He, in turn, might question owner Lawrence Stroll over why he keeps rotating staff rather than planting seeds. They are the opposite of the super-team he hoped for and on which he spent £200million in developing their fine factory at the gates of Silverstone.

Back to Russell, who said he would miss Carmen this weekend, so important is she to his sporting success. Indeed, asked if he would emulate Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who married his fiancee Alexandra last week, he said: ‘I mean, in the near future.

‘Given she has appendicitis, she is gutted not to be here, not because of Melbourne, but because she’s so excited for the season. It shows me how lucky I am to have someone who cares so much about what I do and is so invested in it. That helps a huge amount in this journey to success.’

Asked how many titles he might win in his dream scenario, the heir presumptive smiled. He is careful not to count his chickens early.

But he said: ‘Who knows? The only thing I reflect on is (Michael) Schumacher won his first title with Ferrari in his fifth season, and no one realises he had four years of not winning championships.’

For the record this is George Russell’s fifth season at Mercedes.