‘No doubt my time will come’ says George Russell as he aims to be F1 world champion

SINGAPORE – In a sport where metrics matter, it comes as no surprise that George Russell has been keeping count of his total races.

“I’m coming up to my 150th race in Formula One,” the Mercedes driver pointed out to The Straits Times in an interview on Oct 1 at Swiss financial services group UBS’ office in Penang Road, ahead of the Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix weekend which will mark his 146th race.

While he is not in contention to become a world champion as he approaches the milestone – he is fourth in the standings and a massive 112 points behind leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren with seven races remaining – the Briton is prepared to bide his time as he chases the ultimate goal.

To illustrate his patience, the 27-year-old recalled an anecdote from a recent book he had read.

“I like to look at the here and now and the short-term future and I know that if I do everything right today, and everything right tomorrow, and everything right the day after, my long-term goal will be achieved,” said Russell.

“I remember reading a book where a young kid was building this wall with his father and saying it felt so daunting to build this big wall. And the father said to the son: ‘Don’t think about the wall, just think about laying one brick. Laying that one brick is easy, and then before you know it, the wall will be built’.

“And it’s the same in our life. You don’t think about the end goal. You just think about laying that one brick today over one brick the next day, and so on and so on. Before you know it, that big accomplishment, what you’re chasing will be achieved.”

He is confident his time will come.

Since his rookie season with Williams in 2019, he has been touted as the next big thing in F1 but the highest he has finished is fourth overall in 2022.

He said: “I feel ready to fight for a world championship. I felt ready for a long time. But there can only ever be one driver and one team. And it’s very rare you see two drivers from two different teams fighting for a championship... but you should never lose hope.

“And I’m 27 years old. I’m fighting every single day because I don’t know when my chance will come. Maybe it starts from this weekend in Singapore... maybe it’s 2026, maybe it’s 2028. But I have no doubt my time will come.”

With the McLarens in commanding form – they lead the constructors’ standings with 623 points and can seal the title on Oct 5 – Russell and Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli’s main concern this season will be to consolidate second place, as they are only four points ahead of Ferrari and 18 points better off than Red Bull in fourth.

But he is quietly optimistic about next season, with the introduction of sweeping new regulations in the biggest overhaul of the sport in more than a decade.

With Mercedes principal Toto Wolff having stated publicly that the team will run the same line-up in 2026, Russell has long started working on next season’s car.

“Even just yesterday, I was driving the simulator with the 2026 car and the 2026 engine,” he said.

“It’s a huge opportunity for us as Mercedes, every team. It’s a huge opportunity. We recognise we cannot win the championship this season. We’re of course, fighting to finish second, and that is our objective. But the truth is, we want to be all in for 2026 and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”

Russell, who landed in Singapore in the afternoon on Oct 1, spoke to ST on the sidelines of an exclusive roundtable with the Mercedes driver hosted by UBS – the team’s partner since 2011– for nine of Singapore’s young, aspiring F1 drivers.

Young Jin Yee, co-head UBS global wealth management Asia Pacific and country head of UBS Singapore, said: “UBS is proud to support and inspire the next generation of racing talent in Singapore by offering them a unique opportunity to meet and engage with George Russell.

“George embodies the pinnacle of professional racing and the values we share with Mercedes: relentless dedication, uncompromising standards and a commitment to excellence and talent development.

“At our specially organised roundtable for young local racing talents, George shared his lessons from the track, from racing tips to a top performer’s mindset and philosophy. UBS is glad to be able to make a positive impact in today’s youth and we seek to continue to do so through our various community initiatives.”

They included 18-year-old F3 driver Christian Ho and 16-year-old Singaporean go-karter Dillan Tan.

Dillan said: “I am grateful for this opportunity to meet George Russell in-person at UBS’ office. He is one of the greatest drivers and has built a successful career in professional racing.

“What inspired me to develop my karting journey was mastering one corner and I would like to master the whole track next. This opportunity to have a dialogue with George Russell personally has reignited by passion for the sport.”

After this, Russell will want to let his driving do the talking on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where he

finished fourth in 2024

.

He said the target this time is to win and build on the momentum from his second-placed finish at the last race in Azerbaijan, although he admitted it will be a tough task.

He said: “We’ve seen this season our car... is usually best suited to the cooler conditions. So unfortunately, Singapore doesn’t probably align with what we would hope for.

“But there are always surprises here.”