"It’s been an honor to watch you on court"- Mercedes' George Russell pays tribute to Roger Federer after his retirement from tennis

George Russell paid tribute to Roger Federer after the Swiss legend announced his retirement from tennis. In a post on social media, Russell congratulated Federer on his career and looked forward to seeing him in the F1 paddock again.

In his Twitter post, George Russell said:

"Roger, congratulations on a remarkable career! It’s been an honour to watch you on court. Enjoy retirement, and I look forward to seeing you at a few more F1 races in the future!"

Roger Federer has made an appearance in the F1 paddock at the Spanish GP this season. The tennis star was a guest of Mercedes and spent a lot of his time mingling with Toto Wolff and drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Speaking to the media about his visit, Federer said:

“I followed it a lot when I was younger and then obviously I went on tour and it’s so hard to follow everything on the road. I remember going to the big final when [Nico] Rosberg was going against Hamilton in 2016. I believe it was in Abu Dhabi. But this is only my second time to a Formula 1 race."

He further added:

“It’s very exciting for me. I was in the [Mercedes] briefing room actually as Lewis and George were talking to the team and telling them all the details. It was incredible to see, so I was very lucky.”

It was during this race weekend that George Russell met Roger Federer for the first time and developed a friendship with him.

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George Russell's reaction to an uncompetitive weekend for Mercedes at Monza

George Russell scored a P3 at the 2022 F1 Italian GP. The driver, however, was no match for Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc up front in their Red Bull and Ferrari. The young British driver was happy with the podium, but was slightly disappointed with the car not being competitive enough. He said:

"Unfortunately, this weekend we were not where we wanted to be as a team - but like I said on the radio, it doesn't matter if we are fast or slow, we keep getting these podium finishes."

"Over this triple header, two of the three weekends have been very difficult, and I've still come away with two podiums and a P4, so we've got to be satisfied with that."

Russell has been very consistent this season and currently holds a 35-point advantage over his teammate Lewis Hamilton.