Russell: In 2016 I was quite sure my F1 dream was over

Russell was watched and developed by Mercedes since 2016 when he did simulator work for the World Champions as a driver for Hitech in Formula 3. A year later he was signed for the Silver Arrows young driver programme with a GP3 Series season backed by his new mentors.

By 2017 they had him testing with Mercedes-powered Force India, and also doing FP1 sessions for the Silverstone based team. In 2019, he was signed by Williams and the rest, as they say, is well-known history.

Fast forward to today, Russell is set for the most important year of his career thus far, expectations high that the highly-rated Briton will give his Hamilton, the greatest driver of this era, a good run for his money.

Part of what seems to be a well thought and planned New Guard primed to take over when the Old Guard steps down; aka succession blueprint for life after Hamilton's reign at Mercedes.

During Bahrain F1 Testing, Russell recalled the early days: "At the start of 2016 I was quite sure my F1 dream was over. I had no links with F1 teams and I was setting my sights on DTM, and then suddenly everything changed.

"It all started when I drove in Formula 3 and I switched teams to Hitech for the 2016 season who ran the Mercedes engine. They phoned me up one day to do simulator work in Brackley."

He continued: "I did two days in a simulator as a bit of an assessment and things snowballed from there. At the end of the season, they told me I'd immediately be part of their young driver programme, and they'd be putting me in GP3 with Art GP.

"It's all about timing in this sport, but all you can do is just keep performing. It sometimes feels like it's not going to happen but if you keep performing, beating your teammates, winning races, it's all you can do," explained the 24-year-old.

With the 'to win you must first beat your teammate' unwritten rule of F1, Russell vs Hamilton is sure to be a box-office sideshow with some tricky management grenades possible when things get seriously close between the pair. This is racing after all.

The respect Russell has for Hamilton is blatant: “Lewis is a fighter, he’s a racer. His absolute main priority is to be the best version of himself when he hits the track in Bahrain for race one.

“He has more experience than I have. He knows what it takes to be a F1 World Champion and he knows what preparation he needs over the course of a pre-season to prepare himself best for that first race.

“Everybody’s different. I’ll have a different approach probably to Lewis, he’ll have a different approach to another driver, and that’s for all of the Formula 1 drivers.

"You need to learn what is best for you and respect how each individual does that," explained Russell, as he teams up with the best of the best.

Star-maker Toto Wolff, who dispensed of Valtteri Bottas to make way for Russell's promotion from Williams, the Merc boss explains the rationale behind the rise and rise of the driver: "He was a winner in every racing category and the past three seasons with Williams have given us a taste of what the future could hold for him in F1.

"Now, it is our challenge together to help him continue learning within our environment and alongside Lewis, the greatest F1 driver of all time. I am confident that as their relationship grows, they will form a strong team and deliver for Mercedes on and off the track in the years ahead," added Wolff.

Russell and Hamilton have been testing the radically innovative Mercedes W13 in Bahrain over the past three days, prepping for the season-opening 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix on 20 March.