{"id":120,"date":"2026-03-25T09:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T09:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betway.co.com\/insider\/?p=120"},"modified":"2026-05-08T06:22:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:22:00","slug":"george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/","title":{"rendered":"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image source: Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2026 FIA Formula One World Championship<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2026 Japanese Grand Prix<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Suzuka Circuit<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Suzuka City, Japan<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday, 29 March 2026<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mercedes driver George Russell will be targeting his third podium in three races at the start of the 2026 season when Formula One<\/a> heads to Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Englishman, who finished fourth in the drivers’ standings last term, has really gotten to grips with the new technical regulations introduced to the cars in 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russell won the opening race in Australia by 2.974 seconds ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli, and the Silver Arrows scored another one-two at the Chinese Grand Prix with the two drivers exchanging positions on the podium.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 28-year-old holds a four-point lead over Antonelli in the Drivers’ Championship and will be seeking his first-ever podium finish in Suzuka, having achieved his best placing of P5 last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russell was involved in a fierce battle with both Ferraris at the Shanghai International Circuit, but eventually managed to get past Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton after finding himself behind them both at the start and the Safety Car.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Obviously, the race start, Ferrari got the upper hand on us; Safety Car restart, they got the upper hand on us, and unfortunately, that hindered my chances of going for victory,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Kimi did a great job, so really well done to him, but Ferrari once again… Three races down, three races they’ve made our life pretty awkward in those opening laps. At least I’m glad it provided some good entertainment for you.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2026 Chinese Grand Prix results<\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Winner: Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes<\/span><\/p>\n

Second Place: George Russell – Mercedes<\/span><\/p>\n

Third Place: Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bet on Formula 1 with Betway<\/h3>\n

Betting on motorsport with\u00a0Betway<\/a>\u00a0is fast-paced and exciting.\u00a0With access to a huge selection of markets and odds, it won\u2019t be long before you are betting at 100km\/h. Bet on\u00a0Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR,<\/a>\u00a0or any other sport\u00a0of your choice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Join our Telegram Channel<\/h3>\n

Get way more with Betway. Enjoy the thrill of sports betting, casino games, and more. Join our community for tips, bonuses, and exciting offers. #BetwaySquad<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

For all the latest sports news, betting tips and promotions follow\u00a0Betway<\/strong>\u00a0on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Telegram<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Youtube<\/a>. Download the\u00a0Betway app<\/a>\u00a0to bet on the go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image source: Getty Images   2026 FIA Formula One World Championship   2026 Japanese Grand Prix   Suzuka Circuit   […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-sport","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nGeorge Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix - Betway Botswana Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Join George Russell as he aims for his maiden podium in Suzuka. Don\u2019t miss the excitement of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix with Betway!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix - Betway Botswana Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Join George Russell as he aims for his maiden podium in Suzuka. Don\u2019t miss the excitement of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix with Betway!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Betway Botswana Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-25T09:47:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-08T06:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"betway.co.bw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"betway.co.bw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"betway.co.bw\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410\"},\"headline\":\"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-25T09:47:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-08T06:22:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":395,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Other Sport\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/\",\"name\":\"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix - Betway Botswana Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-25T09:47:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-08T06:22:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410\"},\"description\":\"Join George Russell as he aims for his maiden podium in Suzuka. Don\u2019t miss the excitement of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix with Betway!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/\",\"name\":\"Betway Botswana Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410\",\"name\":\"betway.co.bw\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"betway.co.bw\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/betway.co.com\\\/insider\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/author\\\/betway-co-bw\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix - Betway Botswana Blog","description":"Join George Russell as he aims for his maiden podium in Suzuka. Don\u2019t miss the excitement of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix with Betway!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix - Betway Botswana Blog","og_description":"Join George Russell as he aims for his maiden podium in Suzuka. Don\u2019t miss the excitement of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix with Betway!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/","og_site_name":"Betway Botswana Blog","article_published_time":"2026-03-25T09:47:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-08T06:22:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":533,"url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"betway.co.bw","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"betway.co.bw","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/"},"author":{"name":"betway.co.bw","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#\/schema\/person\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410"},"headline":"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix","datePublished":"2026-03-25T09:47:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-08T06:22:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/"},"wordCount":395,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg","articleSection":["Other Sport","Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/","url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/","name":"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix - Betway Botswana Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-25T09:47:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-08T06:22:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#\/schema\/person\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410"},"description":"Join George Russell as he aims for his maiden podium in Suzuka. Don\u2019t miss the excitement of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix with Betway!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/George-Russell-of-Mercedes.jpg","width":800,"height":533},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/george-russell-eyes-first-podium-at-japanese-grand-prix\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"George Russell Eyes First Podium at Japanese Grand Prix"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/","name":"Betway Botswana Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#\/schema\/person\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410","name":"betway.co.bw","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"betway.co.bw"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/betway.co.com\/insider"],"url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/author\/betway-co-bw\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1354,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions\/1354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}