George Russell is keen to make up for what he described as “probably the biggest mistake of my career”, which came during the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
Sat in the top 10, Russell lost control of his Williams behind the safety car and cost himself a shot at a first points finish in Formula 1.
The 2018 F2 champion did not let the error impact his form though and was very impressive making his Mercedes debut in place of Lewis Hamilton at the Sakhir Grand Prix a month later.
Nonetheless, Russell will undoubtedly want to make some better memories at the circuit, a track he dubbed “fantastic”.
“Imola is a fantastic circuit,” he said. “It’s very fast and you really need to be committed.
“It also has a lot of character that the newer tracks sometimes lack, and you feel that when you’re bouncing over the kerbs. I’m very happy that the track is back on the calendar this season.
“I made what is probably the biggest mistake of my career at Imola in 2020 when crashing under the safety car. It’s a track where, if you make a mistake, you’re out. But that’s what racing should be about.
“I’ll look to try and rectify my mistake from last year with a good result this weekend.”
Nicholas Latifi, like Russell, is pleased to be returning to Imola for a second season in a row and the Canadian said that it was a circuit that suited last year’s FW43 quite well.
“I’m excited to hit the track at Imola; it was a circuit that seemed to suit our car quite well last year and I had one of my best results of the season in the race,” he said.
“I’m curious to see how the car is going to perform there, especially after a weekend of inconsistent conditions in Bahrain with the wind. Having all three practice sessions will be useful, as last year we only had the one, so we’ll be able to build the weekend from there and hopefully we can be competitive and have a good race.”