Because of his larger dimensions compared to Lewis Hamilton, George Russell barely fit into his winning Mercedes F1 W11 which forced him to wear a one number smaller shoes and as soon as he settled in he asked about Mercedes’ controversial DAS steering system.
Russell was suddenly given a chance at Mercedes after Hamilton received a positive COVID-19 test result on Monday and due to the friendly relationship between Williams and Mercedes such a loan was possible despite the short timeframe.
The Williams driver is thrilled to get a chance to drive for the world champions team, but due to his 11cm bigger height, four kg more weight and two numbers bigger feet, he barely fit in his car.
Russell revealed that instead of the size 11, which he normally wears, he had to fit in the size of shoes 10 while Hamilton wears the size 9.
“It’s definitely very tight,” Russell said.
“My feet are number 11 so I had to wear a number less than would be ideal.”
“So I’m a little uncomfortable about that. But I’m sure I can handle the pain for this occasion.”
“I talked to Bono [Hamilton’s racing engineer Pete Bonington] and he said ‘I’m sure we can make some modifications to your body to help you’, and I thought ‘I’m not sure.’
“But everything was fine.”
Mercedes also released footage of Russell’s first entry into the F1 W11 and the young Briton immediately asked ‘so this is DAS’, referring to Mercedes dual-axis steering system which has been banned for the next season.
“So this is DAS?” ? @GeorgeRussell63 #SakhirGP pic.twitter.com/G2KeyOGsjz
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 3, 2020
