sometimes all of the hullabaloo and “unnecessary anger” comments about George throwing his headrest out of his car in Canada 2026 tick me off because people really don’t seem to know how much George was labeled an angry demon kid on track in karting who threatened to lap people and crash into them. George has consciously worked on his anger management and that should be recognized. exhibits A, B, and C (take with a grain of salt of course):
he has WORKED to be a calm and graceful person who is polite no matter what. he immediately learned from and apologized for the Bottas incident in ‘21, even though that’s used against him to this day, and has talked about how he tries to point the blame more at himself now than others as he used to. hell, he’s also said 1000x that his whiny and angry radio moments (another point used to drag him) are because of the heat of the moment and he has defended other drivers reacting the same. the metaphor of bringing a microphone to your worst day at work makes total sense to me and is something he’s used to explain those moments.
and so this is why also, while I completely understand why people would want him to, I don’t always love comments about how George should “be more evil” or angry or mean. guys, he absolutely can be. but he’s really worked on that and tried for that to not be who he is. I really respect that. in a world where hot takes and lashings drive algorithms, and a sport where aggressiveness is often praised and heavily associated with how “masculine” a driver is or not, it’s a different path to try to be an emotionally regulated and professional person. I think this lends to the “PR Russell” allegations and that he is fake, but I don’t think working on yourself should be construed as “fake”. and a lack of anger in a man doesn’t make him less of one or less of a good athlete.
yes we want him to advocate for himself, on and off track, don’t get me wrong- where ruthlessness and competition may be necessary. I believe George can do that. he’s obviously shown that. but this self-improvement is actually one of the things I like about him the most tbh. it takes a lot of courage to identify how you can improve and try to be that person. not enough people do that honestly. I like to see and admire George trying. so often we tell ourselves that the way we hurt others and ourselves is just “who we are” and something we can’t change. maybe sometimes it isn’t. but shouldn’t we try to treat others well? doesn’t mean George doesn’t fail at this. but I’d rather him try than not
