Russell: I believe in myself and know that I can achieve success.

      George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix – it has been almost four months since his previous victory at the Australian stage of the championship. The British Mercedes driver commented on this achievement and emphasized that it would be more fun if different drivers from different teams were competing for victories.

      Question: George, congratulations! What does this success mean to you, as it feels like the victory in Melbourne was quite a while ago?

      George Russell: Yes, to be honest, a lot of time has passed since then. These past few months have been challenging; some races were really tough, and at times it felt like everything was against me, but there were also races where I just couldn't show a good result. Of course, I have an incredibly fast teammate who consistently performs at a very high level.

      After the race in Canada, where I had to endure a rather unpleasant moment (Russell's car broke down while he was leading), we headed to the race in Barcelona, and I needed to show resilience and determination to get back to my previous level and deliver a good result. Overall, after two consecutive poles this weekend, I won, and on a track that I believe doesn't suit me very well. So, I am truly proud.

      Question: Toto Wolff, speaking about this victory, noted your composure. Did you really stay calm?

      George Russell: To be honest, I didn't feel particularly calm, although we did control the race. If we disregard Max Verstappen's speed, we can say that our team performed very well. Mercedes was 20 seconds ahead of McLaren, and the advantage over Ferrari was even greater.

      But thanks to the innovations presented by Red Bull, yesterday Max was fighting for pole, and in today's race, he showed excellent pace. In the second segment of the race, he was pressuring me, and I had to make a pit stop 28 laps before the finish, which was quite uncomfortable. But I drove the first twenty laps of that segment quite confidently, which allowed me to drive relatively calmly in the last eight laps.

      Question: To what extent did yesterday's pole position contribute to your victory?

      George Russell: Of course, it was very important. A lot depended on it, although I still believe we would have fought for victory regardless of what happened on Saturday. But starting from pole made the task much easier.

      Question: Before your home race in Silverstone, you returned to second place in the personal standings – to what extent does this give you confidence ahead of the British Grand Prix?

      George Russell: I believe in myself and know that I can succeed. But I have less confidence regarding the car – with the settings, with the tire performance, because I haven't been able to achieve stability in that area. Even this weekend, at times I was about six tenths slower than Kimi, and then, in the final part of qualifying, I suddenly found myself two tenths faster.

      Honestly, I can't explain why that happened. But when I managed to put in a good lap that secured pole, the car's behavior and tire performance resembled what I experienced last year when I was performing at a high level throughout the weekend. Together with the team, I will continue to work hard to try to replicate that.

      Question: You mentioned that the Austrian track doesn't suit your driving style very well. Does Silverstone suit you better in this regard?

      George Russell: I think so. It's a track where you can put more load on the front tires; usually, they are more prone to degradation than the rear tires. The temperature there should be more normal. In Spielberg, at one point, the asphalt temperature reached 60 degrees. But this season, we are generally facing challenges with many unknowns.

      Maybe in Silverstone, Kimi and I can perform excellently, but I don't rule out that Max might win there. I'm going there allowing for any outcome.

      Question: You said that in the past few months you needed to show persistence. How important has this quality been in your winning the race now? Could this be a turning point after which you return to the level of results you want to achieve?

      George Russell: The team has done a tremendous job to get accurate answers to the questions related to my less-than-stellar performances. The races in Montreal and Monaco were really tough, but I can't say that after them I looked at the telemetry data in confusion and thought, "What's the problem?" It was clear what it was related to, and clear how to solve it. And when we looked at the information from previous years, we saw certain trends that only worsened when we switched to these new cars.

      Overall, before the Austrian weekend, I figured that the previous approaches on this track could create real difficulties, so I raced differently this time. To be honest, I applied a somewhat unconventional approach to working with the tires, but it yielded a good result. This still needs to be analyzed in more detail. But I reiterate, the team did a great job to guide me in this direction.

      Question: Perhaps for the first time this season, you have the opportunity to pressure Kimi more actively?

      George Russell: Almost after every lap, he occupies the top two spots on the results board. I managed to do that only at the beginning of the year, but not recently. In Barcelona, things went better; everything fell into place on each lap, but a real rivalry developed between us.

      However, this weekend after the pole and today's victory, I know for sure that I can achieve high results, although I always believed that in previous years. However, as I mentioned, this year I also didn't doubt my abilities, but I probably doubted the process itself, and I needed to sort everything out.

      At the same time, watching Lewis Hamilton, I can clearly see how he has bounced back this year, while Charles Leclerc has started to have problems, even though he is one of the best qualifiers. You can't say that any of us has forgotten how to drive or how to regain form. The question is just to understand the specifics of a particular car and figure out how to unlock its potential.

      Definitely, on every lap of every race, I feel that I am gradually improving, so I have a good mindset.

      Question: What scenario do you prefer: for your Mercedes team to continue dominating, with only you and your teammate fighting for victories? Or would it be better if Max Verstappen and other drivers from other teams also contended for success?

      George Russell: To be honest, I prefer it when there is a real battle for victories. The audience wants all the best drivers from the best teams to be involved in this. Of course, Max is one of the best, and I want Lewis, Charles, Lando, Oscar… to join the fight for victories.

      Unfortunately, the mid-field teams and those lagging behind don't reach that level, but the more drivers that join the battle for high results, the more fun it is.

      Then it creates the feeling we experienced during karting, as back then it was never the case that you were fighting for victories with just one person. The title fight always involved at least three drivers. When I raced in F4, F3, and F2, I had to compete against three, four, or five rivals. That's how it should be in Formula 1.