Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are facing their first season as teammates in Formula 1. After several years alongside Valtteri Bottas, the 7-time world champion has to deal with a young driver, on the launch pad, hungry and rich in talent.
The first part of the 2022 Formula 1 season saw Mercedes struggling due to a very ambitious project, but so extreme that it struggled to find the right window of use with structures that often highlighted the stiffness of the W13, leaving it in mercy of porpoising first and then bouncing.
In all this George Russell has distinguished himself by signing 3 podiums and 128 points in 11 races, 19 points better than Lewis Hamilton, stopped at 109. To get the full picture of the situation it will be wise to wait for the end of the season, but the start of Russell it is already a fact.
The boy who arrived after 3 seasons in Williams already seems to be ready not only to fight with the best – there were few doubts about this – but even to lead the team and help him to get out of the difficulties in which he raged these first 7 months of the 2022.
This is the opinion of Lewis Hamilton, who had the opportunity to study, know, understand Russell and evaluate his characteristics: “I can’t say that it is difficult to be George’s teammate, it was pleasant. We work together and we do it incredibly well. “.
“George is very positive … He has had a positive impact on the working environment and in general it is a real pleasure to work with him and it is good to see what he can achieve. He did a great job, he got the first points for the team and will continue to improve and continue to do so for a long time. “
“I see that he has great potential to become world champion, and he is also in the right place to be able to do so. I really think that, whether I am here or not, he has all the qualities to help the team progress in the future and lead them to success. , so I think it was the right choice for the team. I hope I can contribute in part to help them improve further. “
Hamilton’s words were also circumstantial, because it has not often happened that a teammate put him in such difficulty over the course of such a long period of a season, but they are equally sincere. The two Brits are working together to try to get Mercedes back to where it has been for the past 8 years, but the path will still be long.
George Russell himself recently talked about his approach to Mercedes in the Beyond the Grid podcast: “I like to look at things as objectively as possible. Things can change very quickly in Formula 1 and sign a contract to join the greatest team of this era is undoubtedly a huge moment for me. “
“But if I don’t do well, if I get kicked in the ass by the greatest driver of all time (Hamilton, ed), what does it mean? It means that after a year I could be out of Brackley’s door.”
“Getting to Mercedes was a big step forward in my career, but it’s a bit like the image of the guy climbing the mountain: he thinks he is on top, he looks up and the summit is miles away. Then he gets there. , but he sees another peak. And this is the way I see F1. There is a lot to celebrate at a time like this. I want to be world champion, I want to win races, but signing on the Mercedes contract is not it guaranteed me nothing, “concluded Russell.
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