George Russell has certainly been using his time wisely since retiring from the Australian Grand Prix, with the Mercedes driver still having another three weeks until he’s back in action at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The unscheduled four-week break following the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix has given all the teams a chance to be creative with their social media content, something Russell has been involved in.
The 25-year-old recently featured on Mercedes’ official YouTube channel, where the former Williams drive ranked every circuit on the calendar.
The ranking system included a ‘top tier’, ‘great’, ‘solid’ and ‘meh’ section, with Russell having then put a picture of each circuit in the section he believes it belongs to.
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Interestingly, Russell labelled the likes of Imola, Saudi Arabia and Zandvoort in ‘top tier’, whilst the Red Bull Ring, Baku, and Mexico City were awarded the status of ‘meh’.
Montreal: “Solid to great”
Imola: “That’s a top tier circuit, that’s a pretty spectacular one.”
Jeddah: “Out of all of the new circuits, as a pure driving experience it’s probably one of the best on the calendar, so that’s going top tier.”
Budapest: “That’s a great circuit. Nice, fast, flowing, a lot of fun.”
Barcelona: “That’s a solid track, not a great track in my opinion.”
Zandvoort: “I’m going to put that in top tier, I think it deserves it.”
Interlagos: “Obviously first win for me [was there], so that’s got to be in the top tier.”
Austin: “That’s a fun track, that’s going to go in ‘great’.”
Mexico: “I loved Mexico, the fans are great, the city’s amazing, the circuit…isn’t my favourite circuit, I’m going to put that in the ‘meh’ column, sorry.”
Silverstone: “Obviously top tier, one of the best on the calendar.”
Abu Dhabi: “That’s a solid track, I wouldn’t say it’s a great track.”
Singapore: “That, for a street circuit, is definitely a great circuit.”
Melbourne: “Melbourne’s a very cool track, but it’s not top tier. The changes they made last year probably made it worse for driving and better for racing.”
Suzuka: “That’s definitely going in top tier. Like Silverstone, one of the best.”
Baku: “Probably the best track on the calendar for racing, but for driving it’s not the most exciting in the world, I’m going to put it in ‘meh’. I’m sorry Baku.”
Bahrain: “I like Bahrain, that’s a solid circuit. First race of the year, always nice to go there.”
Qatar: “A great circuit, one of the funnest new circuits.”
Monaco: “A great, great circuit. I would put it in top tier, but because of the challenges of racing there I’ll put it great to top tier, in between the two.”
Las Vegas: “I’ve yet to drive it on the sim, so I can’t comment. But I’ll say that’ll be closer to the meh than the top tier.”
Spa: “Definitely top tier, that’s going to go in there.”
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Monza: “Great circuit, fast, flowing, great for racing, I’ll put that in the ‘great’.”
Miami: “Miami was fun, very very solid. Shame about the last sector, little bit tight and twisty and a bit slow for the big F1 cars.”
Red Bull Ring: “Just for the name, it has to be in the ‘meh’ column.”