#red bull dtm

[visualvocabulary33]

[flobell1011]

I have a feeling that Max Verstappen will be leaving F1 in 2026 only because He doesn’t want to stay around and he wants to do other things like GT sim Le Mans and DTM he already has a team. He already has three F1 titles more than you’d expect from a guy that age And also if he doesn’t like the regulations and the cars he doesn’t have to be there. He won’t leave motorsport he just won’t be an F1.

[zikbitume]

@DTM #DTM2023

[formulaewags]

Throwback of Victoria, Nico, and their son at a DTM race in Red Bull Ring (@/nico.mueller51 via his latest Instagram post)

[viper-motorsports]

Schubert Motorsport clamors over the hillside Red Bull Ring AT where their N°33 BMW M4 GT3 scored a 2023 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters victory in the weekend’s closing sprint.

[youjustwaitsunshine]

funny how im going to three (3) weekend motorsport events this year and all three of them together (3x admission + 1x camping) still cost less than one weekend (basic admission no grandstand + camping) of f1 (austria)

[pojestcusvekolacice]

[robinfrinjs]

Dries said there's only two BMWs going to Macau ???? bullshit man

[formula-archive]

Do you think we'll see more new Maxiel content with Daniel being gone?

I think so but not super often? But it depends on a few factors. There is a small part of me that believes Daniel could still return to Formula 1 (not necessarily at Red Bull or as a driver - but I'm not ruling it out - but in a different capacity, like an ambassador or coach or advisor). If this happens and Max does in fact sit out his entire contract, I believe we'll see plenty of them. They are always going to be drawn to each other.

If not, I think we'll just see them occasionally. They'll definitely hang out plenty but we just won't see lots of it because they love their privacy. It will be like the padel date, just small glimpses. One cute photo they shared and another bit that gets caught just because a film crew happens to be there for a completely unrelated thing.

In my other fantasy, though, Daniel gets sponsored by verstappen.com racing and does, like, DTM and we get Max and Daniel testing cars together and whatnot. I'm not saying this will happen but if Max gets inspired by this, I think it's a good option!

[georgegraphys]

WARNING : OPINIONATED, AGREE TO DISAGREE, some speculative things. Mercedes shooter/snowflakes who hate getting their opinions hurt/who close their eyes blind fuck off

I'm a Mercedes defender but you CANNOT say that at ONE POINT in George's career, they can be manipulative af.

Two things can be TRUE, AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME:

1. Mercedes helps and choose George, George loves and choose Mercedes

2. At some point of his career, there were manipulative acts performed by Mercedes.

Let's talk from the beginning

I don't think i need to tell the story about George's powerpoint presentation saga anymore because all of us know it. But shortly,

His manager got a hold of Toto's email > George sent his CV > Toto saw em and invited George > George came ALONE to Toto's office and there were other higher ups > presentation > Toto mesmerized because of how George is very brave to go inside his office and present his "why you should pick me" CV alone without parents/manager > Toto want him in the junior team but can only offer an ass team > George refused for an English team (Carlin Volkswagen) > Toto say "i told you you're wrong but let's keep on contact"

Then George blew his expectations. Did a pretty good season in F3 EU first year. But he got into a financial problem which he later resorted to testing for BMW in DTM as he looked for plan B. He cooked their. First on the record, allegedly beat Audi and Mercedes too. BMW liked George so much that they threw him a $$$,$$$ contract directly. But the testing saga was leaked by an ex-BMW employee who moved to Mercedes and Mercedes came back to George.

Okay, if you're saying "oh awreeee, but george chose mercedes" oh amandaaa, for the second time, it was mercedes who approached george.

Although George in the end DID choose Mercedes, you can't look at this statement and tell me "oh my word! this is so pressure-less! i bet they're having tea over this talk!" 🥰🥰🥰 "Oh but Ari this is normal-" you're talking to me here as someone who will NEVER be in the position of money-less and your dream in the verge of getting over.

The keyword here is "It was absolutely clear from Mercedes-Benz". You are EIGHTEEN or SEVENTEEN with a career most possibly focused on racing. And a powerhouse company said "there won't be an option with Mercedes Benz in the future (if you pick BMW)". And if you look at it, you don't need to be a Law Student or a Comms Student to know that the deal they're offering to George is so fucking ass. Do ALL the sims for Merc, they test you on and off the track. All that and they say "oh but we won't be so sure tee hee~ we'll get back to you in October 🩵🩵🩵". All that while not letting him keep the BMW contract. George did choose Mercedes, but you can't tell me that there is no pressure (or minor gaslighting) at all from a big company who had ventures in GT/DTM/F1 to a 17/18 y.o who had financial problems and is desperate to continue his career.

Second. During this "test" period for George's second year at F3 EU. They also did not allow him to continue with Carlin despite George wanting to because Carlin is supported by Volkswagen. He had to opt for Hitech, a completely new team (rumored to get that discounted price seat in exchange for driver coaching his teammate Mazepin, whose father sponsors Hitech)

You can have a different opinion about this and you might say "eh but that makes sense, it's job obligation" but for me "why let go of Carlin VW when they don't even guarantee anything about George's seat in the junior team"

Other saga of this "shady ass slightly manipulative shit" Merc did? Whatever that Red Bull saga is

The fact that they said this while also thinking about someone else in that Merc seat in 2022 LOL 💀💀💀 Even when George was almost out of his seat in 2020, they'd rather send George to GT or DTM than let him go to Red Bull or other team. In 2020, he was linked to a Ferrari or McLaren seat. You can say "why would you want him-" and I'll say that you only say this because you're in the future now and you know George is in Mercedes. But if you were BACK THEN and he's on the verge of getting his seat grabbed by someone else and his team snoozed around just because they won't let him go, you'd want to bite their neck off too.

But yeah as I said earlier, this is my opinion and some of the red flags I see. You can't 100% glorify Mercedes for helping George. I'm very thankful they helped George throughout his career. George is in his place now partly because of Mercedes. But let's not act like Merc is a divine angel for helping someone out. They did some red flags too. George chooses them, YES. But let's not act like there is absolutely no pressure at all to a minor at that time.

[boxboxblog]

Current Driver Profiles: Liam Lawson

Updated December 2024

Name: Liam Lawson

Age: 22

Nationality: New Zealander

Years in F1: Less than 1 ( October 2024 VCARB, Red Bull Present)

Number: 30

WDCs: N/A

Driving Style: Lawson is noted as a particularly adaptive driver. He seems to mesh well with many different cars, series, and styles. He is noted for his adaptability due to the fact that he regularly enters new series and shows good results quickly. Beyond that he is an assertive driver, but not as aggressive and reckless as some rookies can be. However, this lower amount of aggression meant he was less forceful in overtaking situations. Also his general lack of experience in an F1 car is a downside.

History:

Lawson was born to a relatively middle-class family, with a father who had a passion for Motorsport racing. This got Lawson involved from a very young age, and he started karting professionally at age 6. He had a very successful karting career, winning his first national title in 2012 when he won the Cadet class of the NZ CIK Championship. In 2013 he won his second national title in Junior Restricted and also finished runner-up in the NZ Schools Championship. 2014 he added two more national karting titles, winning Junior Restricted in both the NZ Sprint Championship and NZ Schools.

(Lawson during his karting days)

2015 he made his single-seater debut in the Formula First Manfield Winter Series taking a win and ten podiums to finish 2nd in the standings that year.overall. A few months later he took part in the NZ Formula First championship, taking a win and three podiums, getting 6th in the standings and winning Rookie of the Year. The following year, Lawson graduated to the NZ F1600 Championship Series where he dominated, claiming fourteen of the fifteen victories on offer to become the youngest champion in not just the series' history, but the youngest ever Formula Ford champion in world at the time.

(Lawson with his Formula Ford car)

In 2017, Lawson moved up to the Australian F4 championship, taking five wins to finish 2nd in his rookie season. 2018 Lawson remained at Formula 4 level, moving across to contest the ADAC Formula 4 championship with Van Amersfoort Racing (home to many future F1 drivers) and won three times, which saw him claim his second consecutive F4 runner up position.

(Lawson during his time at German F4)

Lawson took part in the Toyota Racing Series for the 2019 season and had a fantastic season. Lawson dominated on debut at Highlands, taking two races wins. He won three more times across the season along with multiple podium finished, and secured the title before the season was even over. He would take part in many other series over the next couple of years.

(Lawson after a race win in the 2019 Toyota Racing Series)

He competed in F3, but had middling results, is highest standings finish being 3rd in 2020. He moved on to F2 in 2021, where he had another middling season. He did achieve one win and three podiums, but finished 9th in the standings. He also competed in DTM during that year, having a very tight season and finishing 2nd in the standings. 2022 F2 was a much better year, as he had multiple race wins and podiums. He finished 3rd in the season, and had dropped from 2nd due to some unfortunate results in the latter half of the season.

(Lawson in his 2021 F2 car)

2023 Lawson took part in Super Formula, showing immediate pace and skill, and claimed three wins, multiple podiums, and many high-points finishes. He unfortunately finished 2nd in the standings, and did not return to Super Formula in 2024. During the 2023 year, Lawson also subbed in for an Injured Daniel Riccardo on the AlphaTauri team. He had held a connection to F1 for many years, joining the Red Bull Junior Team in 2019, and had served as their reserve driver for both AlphaTauri and Red Bull starting 2022. His time with AlphaTauri was decent. he did only score points once, but he also did finish higher than his teammate during this time.

(Lawson during the 2023 season with Alpha Tauri)

Once Riccardo returned, Lawson was kept as a reserve driver, a role he held until he was promoted up to the VCARB (AlphaTauri) seat for the remainder of the 2024 season, replacing Daniel Riccardo permanently. His first race as an official F1 driver was the 2024 COTA GP, where he had a brilliant performance. He ended the season 21st in the standings with 4 points scored total.

For the 2025 season, In a surprise move by Red Bull, he was announced for the second Red Bull seat replacing Checo Perez and partnering 4x WDC Max Verstappen.

(Lawson with F1 driver Sergio Perez)

Major Races (including non F1):

2021 DTM Championship Norisring Finale - A race that showed off his great skill and pace, it was marred by a controversial scrape with Kevin van der Linde, his title rival. Mid-race, van der Linde made contact with Lawson and forced him into the gravel, which ultimately lost Lawson the title.

2021 F2 Monaco Sprint - He won this race with a stellar drive, showing his high handling skills and cool head around a very complex circuit. This helped him attract serious F1 attention.

2023 Singapore GP - His first F1 points every score, Lawson showed remarkable perseverance in one of the most physically demanding races of the season. Only his third race in F1, he showed great composure and fantastic race craft.

2023 Super Formula Fuji - His time in SF was all around positive, and at Fuji he dominated the track. He showcased great control in mixed conditions and showed he could handle a high-downforce car, important in F1.

Cheers,

-B

[zikbitume]

@DTM #DTM2023

[mwebber]

PROJEKT SPIELBERG

another underrated martian moment.

so we'll start out with these legendary gifs by martianblr legend @nadia8barca...

"where was this from!" "what was this for!" questions we didn't get the answers to for Ages. (or maybe others found it and just never shared which is like fine whatever this note is for ME then.) but i stumbled upon it tn going through seb's 2011 getty page and doing some digging!

WHO: if you don't know.. now you know

WHAT: this was their joint interview with ö3-mikromann tom walek at an event called projekt spielberg!

WHEN: 2011. well, we knew that based on mark's jacket. but may 15, 2011, to be exact!

WHERE: spielberg, austria.

WHY: ... the umbrella? it was wet outside, lol.. but why the event in general? to launch the red bull ring! info found in the fia's media kit where they detail a brief history of the tracks they race at. it's actually pretty interesting stuff, 60 yrs of motorsport in that location just to [haterism removed].... anyway, page 5:

RED BULL RING (2011–PRESENT) Three years were spent on updating and upgrading Spielberg. On 15 May 2011, the time had finally come – Projekt Spielberg officially presented the new Red Bull Ring to the world of motorsport. In June, the DTM became the first major motorsport racing series to thrill tens of thousands of motorsport fans at the Red Bull Ring. The championship has returned to the circuit every year since then. In 2014, after eleven years, Formula 1 returned to Spielberg.

LINK?! i just found it jesus okay here:

and here's seb's interview from the same event:

and red bull's official promo for the event:

FOOTNOTE: SOME MILD CONFUSION - so on getty and thru clips on youtube, it looks like seb and mark are wearing the same / similar outfits (mark is wearing a hoodie at projekt spielberg) to what they wore on july 23, 2011, during the Red Bull On Track event at the nurburgring. thank you, uniforms, i guess.. but here's their interviews from then anyway. mark is adorable ;-;

[chussyracing]

The 2006-vintage Midland rumour I mentioned in my uQuiz submission in full. See if you can guess the actual rumour(s) that sparked the forum DIY rumour mill thread:

The reason why Albers is rumoured to be leaving MF1 is because he is due to lead MF1's very first prototype Le Mans effort in 2007. He will be partnering Coulthard (the guy's got to have somewhere to go after Schumacher ousts him from Red Bull) and Vanina Ickx (Midland's lead driver in DTM). Audi are rumoured to be very, very worried…

When Tiago isn't doing Le Mans, he will be racing for Toyota. Red Bull will decide a Schumacher-Schumacher line-up was irresistible, and Toyota will regard Tiago as a natural replacement.

Juan Pablo has reportedly requested a transfer to NASCAR racing. "Tiago in a bigger team is really bad news - if I turned my car into a mobile road block in front of him again, I probably wouldn't get out of the pitlane for all the angry Toyota and MF1 employees. At least in NASCAR nobody minds too much if I get involved in crashes…"

Alain Prost is hoping to make some radical changes to MF1 when he arrives in the No. 1 MF1 seat after Monaco. Johnny Herbert will be moved from PR in order to allow JH to set up a new "MF1 Racing Academy". To enable the MF1 Racing Academy to be established, Alex Schnaider will buy the whole GP2 series from Flavio Briatore (who wants more time to keep track of Alonso's contracts). The five MF1 test drivers will spend their non-testing time teaching approximately half the world's single-seater racers how to improve their technique.

Other changes include recruiting Mika Hakkinen as a part-time liaison between MF1 and Toyota. Toyota will respond to this by guaranteeing MF1 engines until (to quote Toyota's spokesperson) "the sky falls down and pitlane lollipops grow on trees." Mika will also be taking Vanina Ickx's vacated seat (see previous rumour).

The fact that Alain Prost won't be at MF1 until after Monaco means that there will be three races to fill. As widely reported, Colin Kolles will race at the Nurburgring. He has sportingly allowed Alex Schnaider and Señor Bourbon-Thingimajig to share a race seat in Spain. The mysterious accountant at Midland's largest steel factory, known only as "Mr. Twoflower" will race at Monaco. Apparently he was so fast in testing at Silverstone last month that he caused the timing server to crash, which was why no further MF1 times were recorded for that session…

it is my fault for reading in a moving vehicle and getting lightheaded but i cannot stop giggling at montoya being referenced to as juan pablo 🤭

[racewinners-landoandsam]

i saw a video on tik tik talking about f2 and how driver academies are making the championship null and void. which, sure this year you may think that because of Ollie and Kimi promoted, despite not overly excelling in the championship this year, and with Franco being Logan's replacement, but I have done the research, and am here to call this bollocks. this is gonna be a long one folks :)

we start in the good old year of 2016, when the series was still gp2, where we have 2015 champion Stoffel Vandoorne completing one race with mclaren before being promoted for a full season for 2017. Alongside him is 2014 champion Jolyon Palmer who completed a season with renault. Pascal Wehrlein, 2015 DTM champion, and Esteban Ocon, gp3 champion, were promoted to mrt, Esteban only racing after the summer break.

in 2017, Pierre Gasly, 2016 gp2 champion gets to finish the season with Toro Rosso, and 2nd in the championship, Antonio Giovinazzi raced twice for sauber. Lance Stroll, 5th in the f3 european series, was promoted to Williams, and Brendon Hartley, who won formula renault in 2015, also finished the season with toro rosso.

in 2018, 2017 f2 champion Charles Leclerc is promoted to sauber.

in 2019, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the 2018 f2 championship are all promoted to f1, George Russell to williams, Lando Norris to mclaren, and Alex Albon to toro rosso, and then red bull.

in 2020, 2nd place in the 2019 f2 championship, Nicholas Latifi is promoted to williams, while 1st place Nyck De Vries is promoted to formula e.

in 2021, 2020 f2 champion Mick Schumacher is promoted to haas, alongside 3rd place Yuki Tsunoda who is promoted to alpha tauri, and 5th place Nikita Mazepin who is also promoted to haas. 2nd place Callum Ilott was in talks with sauber but was never promoted, and instead raced in wec and indycar.

in 2022, 3rd place in the 2021 f2 championship Zhou Guanyu was promoted to sauber. 1st place Oscar Piastri was the reserve driver for Alpine, and 2nd place Robert Shwartzman has since done test work for ferrari and recently one his first race in wec.

in 2023, 2021 f2 champion Oscar Piastri was promoted to mclaren, alongside 2019 f2 champion Nyck De Vries being promoted to alpha tauri. 4th place in the 2022 f2 championship Logan Sargeant was promoted to williams, and 3rd place Liam Lawson was promoted to alpha tauri after Nyck was fired, and Daniel broke his wrist. 2022 f2 champion Felipe Drugovich became a reserve driver for aston martin, and 2nd place Théo Pourchaire continued in f2 for a second season.

in 2024 nobody was promoted to f1 at the beginning of the season, but current 7th place in the 2024 f2 championship Franco Colapinto was promoted to williams after they fired Logan. 2023 f2 champion Théo Pourchaire competed in the superformula championship, and got to do a couple of races for mclaren in indycar. 2nd place Frederick Vesti has been a test and reserve driver for mercedes.

basically every driver who has finished in the top two in f2 since 2015 was associated with a driver academy. the only two who weren't were Alex Rossi, did five races with marussia in 2015, and has since had a successful indycar career, and Artem Markelov, who as far as I can work out, no longer races.

for the most part, 1st and 2nd in f2 were promoted either the year after, or after having a year out. i think the bigger problem is the talent we have in formula one, and the lack of talent we have not moving on from the series. with only 10 teams, and 20 drivers, there is a limit, especially when we don't have many moving on.

there is also a problem with drivers being hired/kept on because they bring something. i.e. Checo bringing money as a Mexican driver, and Mazepin's dad sponsoring the team. then you have Zhou being hired in wake of the Chinese grand prix coming back, Logan being an American driver, with the americanisation of f1. and then there's Lance who's dad brought him a team.

and that's not me saying that they didn't achieve their seat on any merit, it's just an advantage that other drivers with similar results don't have.

i think Théo Pourchaire should have a chance in f1, and i say this as someone who was really rooting for Fred Vesti last year. If sauber don't keep Valtteri on for next year, I really hope they give Pourchaire a chance.

i am irritated at mercedes for promoting Kimi this early. it's nothing against Kimi, but if they really thought that Fred Vesti was good enough to keep him in their academy, and use him for testing and sim work this year, and to do free practices last year, why would they not give him a chance. he's proven himself to be a good driver, and it would have given Kimi a little more time to race in faster cars. In similar vein, livid at Toto for criticising James Vowles for not giving Mick a chance when he had the opportunity to do the same and failed to do so.

Felipe Drugovich is an interesting one for me. sure signing with aston martin is a choice, and with the current driver pairing, unlikely to get him anywhere. but he has chosen to stay and wait, even though other series have given him offers. for me, he'll either swoop in when Fernando retires again because the car is shit, or he'll wait too long and lose any opportunity to race anything.

Robert Shwartzman is an interesting one. He's been unlucky in the fact that at a point they would have been discussing him, Russia invaded Ukraine, and as he is Russian/Israeli, it probably didn't help his career. Still he remains ferrari's test/sim driver, and although it's unlikely that will get him a seat, it keeps him around. and with wec as well, and getting his first win, he is at least racing.

Callum Ilott was unlucky. he should have had the sauber seat in 21/22, but with the signing of Zhou, he missed out. I don't think he'll race in f1, but he's done well for himself regardless. with his stint in indycar, still pisses at how that ended, and in wec as well.

Nyck De Vries was smart. after not getting an f1 seat, he went to fe, won a championship, and as he raced with mercedes, it opened up chances in f1 for him. the biggest mistake he made, was signing with red bull. i can't imagine he couldn't have found enough fe drivers that were screwed over by red bull in one way or another. they really made a shit car, let him help with its development, and then fired him to let their second favourite child race.

i fear my point may have got lost somewhere, but almost every top two in f2 had a previous association with an f1 team or gained one after winning. at which point it is on the teams to promote the drivers they've deemed good enough to support through their junior career.

sure Kimi and Ollie may not be having the best year in f2, thanks prema for making a dogshit car, but they have a history, previous results that make them so sought after. Kimi's junior record is full of wins, and Ollie's performances in his rookie years in f3 and f2 have been more than enough to get people talking.

as for the currently leader. Isack Hadjar is a red bull junior, if he doesn't get a seat next year it's because red bull are too desperate to keep on their mid drivers instead of letting new talent have a chance. Liam Lawson should have had a seat this year, and if he doesn't next year, it's utterly crazy. same for Isack, he should be in that seat in the next two years, once red bull finally let go of Checo, and maybe even Daniel, but it's unlikely.

the academies are not ruining f2, f2 is just shit currently. what the academies do do is sponsor a large number of drivers, making it much easier for them to further their career.

i do believe something needs to be done to stop this collection of talent being funnelled to the top with nowhere for them to go, but i am too tired to sort that problem tonight.

thank you for listening to my rant!

[russellius]

Tucked away somewhere in his parents’ Norfolk home, there is a photograph of George Russell at his first Silverstone grand prix. If Russell has his way, it will remain tucked away for ever. Rather embarrassingly for the Mercedes driver, he is wearing a Red Bull jumper in the shot.

In fairness, it was taken in 2009 and he was only 11 years old. Yet you sense a certain awkwardness when he talks about it. “When you are a kid you tend to get things you like the look of,” he says. “And I liked the look of that jumper.”

There was a lot more for Russell to like that day. His hero was Sebastian Vettel — of, er, Red Bull — and as he stood at the exit of Copse for the opening lap, he watched his favourite flash by in the lead. Vettel went on to win the race, with team-mate Mark Webber finishing second. Russell was smitten.

“That was the moment when I was like, ‘Yeah, this is what I want to do.’ The noise and the buzz was just immense,” he says.

At the time, Russell was already a junior kart racer and a regular winner, and he would carry on in that groove for the next few years. There was certainly no lack of belief. “With the naivety of a child I used to think I could do anything. I used to think I could fly to the moon,” he says.

“I was so confident. So, so confident at a young age because I was winning. I was almost arrogant, I would say. It was only when I got to 16 that I realised it was not as straightforward as I thought. There are obstacles and there are challenges.”

These things are relative. At the age of 16 Russell still won the British Formula Four championship. And while there were a few bumps on the road when racing in European events, he was still doing enough to attract a six-figure offer from BMW to drive in DTM, the German touring car championship.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, this is unbelievable,’ ” he says. “Formula One was almost put on the sideline at that point because that was so attractive. For a kid growing up in a field with a labrador, those sorts of figures had never even been heard of.”

Russell turned it down. An alternative offer from Mercedes to fund him in Formula Three kept his ambitions on track. More titles followed and in 2019 the kid who had stood saucer-eyed in wonder at Copse a decade earlier became a full-fledged F1 driver for Williams. He would spend three seasons with the Grove outfit before moving to Mercedes at the start of last year.

The change took him from the back of the grid to the front. It meant regular podium finishes and, eventually, a first race win in Brazil. It meant he was now one of a tiny elite, with all the attention that drew. But it also brought a reckoning.

Russell, 25, is a thoughtful and articulate individual. “Some changes are for better and some for worse,” he begins. “It is a bit of a strange position to be in when you find yourself in the limelight. A lot of people want to cosy up to you for the wrong reasons. It took a bit of time for me to process this.

“They weren’t necessarily friends, but people I knew well suddenly started acting differently, asking for this and asking for that. People I hadn’t heard from for a long time came out of the woodwork.

“Now I’m in this position, which is a privilege, I see people’s true colours. So I have a close-knit group of people around me and I know they are there for the right reason.”

Remember that old Volkswagen advertisement about the man who “moved into gold, just as the clever money moved out”? Russell arrived at Mercedes at a similar moment. Lewis Hamilton had just lost his drivers’ title to Max Verstappen and at the end of Russell’s first season with the team they also surrendered to Red Bull the constructors’ crown they had held for eight years.

And yet, perhaps it was not so bad to pitch up when he did. Russell played a big part in ironing out the problems of Mercedes’ 2022 car and making this year’s model more competitive. He also acknowledges that slotting in beside Hamilton could have been problematic had the team still been the most dominant in the sport.

Has it helped that Hamilton is Russell’s senior by a margin of 13 years, seven titles and 102 race wins? “I totally agree with that,” Russell says. “When you look at Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc [of Ferrari] or Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri [McLaren] these guys are trying to be the one to lead the team. They are almost fighting for that No 1 spot. With us, there is no fight because we are at different stages of our careers.

“Lewis has proven everything he has to prove. The team believes in me and believe I’ll be here for the long term. It is a very good dynamic. I would expect the dynamic to change a bit if we were fighting for championships, that’s only normal. But for now we have a good relationship and have had no real tense moments on track.”

The scale of the task facing Mercedes, and every other F1 team, can be measured by the fact that Red Bull have now won 19 of the past 20 grands prix. Their near-monopoly was interrupted only by Russell’s victory in Brazil. To all intents and purposes, this year’s titles have already been decided, but Russell still believes in his team.

“We’ve got some new things coming for the race, which will be a step in the right direction. Red Bull are still favourites, but out of all of the races so far I’d say this would be our best chance.

“As a team we are definitely going in the right direction. We’ve got clear views now and you’ve seen it already with our progress. We’re slowly reeling in Red Bull. It seems like they have taken a step backwards compared to the rest of the field.”

Regardless of what happens, Hamilton and Verstappen have already cemented their places among the all-time greats in the annals of the sport. Can Russell see himself joining them at some point? He seems ambivalent about the prospect.

“When I was a ten-year-old kid I dreamt about being world champion,” he says. “I didn’t dream of being famous.

“I got asked a question recently about what legacy I wanted to leave behind. I’m 25 years old and I hadn’t even thought about this. As a kid I didn’t think about legacy or what impact I wanted to leave, I just wanted to win.

“Maybe in five years’ time that will be something I do think about. I recognise the platform we have, but equally the more success you have the bigger your platform becomes. I need to focus on that first.”