In the most difficult season of its recent history, the Mercedes however, he is finding a way to make people talk about himself. The constructors’ world champion team for eight consecutive seasons, from 2014 to 2021, has failed to build a competitive car this year and is struggling to keep up with Ferrari and Red Bull. Among the constructors, the silver arrows are third, 62 points away from the top of the championship. But if this time it is the others who compete for the title, an internal derby is taking place within the walls of Brackley. After five races in fact George Russellwho arrived this winter from Williams, is clearly beating the seven-time world champion in direct confrontation Lewis Hamilton.
Stevenage’s veteran leads 3-2 in the qualifying match, but in all other categories he takes pay from Russell. The youngster # 63 has more points than his rival, has set more fastest laps and – above all – finished ahead of him in the race on four out of five occasions. Russell has certainly benefited from some episodes – above all the Melbourne and Miami Safety Cars, which entered the track at times favorable to him and unfavorable to Hamilton – but the figures are still significant. It was since 2016, the year of his world championship defeat with Nico Rosberg, that Hamilton was not behind his box mate in the standings after five GPs. It is too early in a championship as long as this to draw definitive conclusions, but Russell certainly deserves credit for never having done anything wrong so far.
Even the disastrous qualifying in Miami, in which he was eliminated in Q2, was due to an error of assessment by the team and not his. Criticized in Williams for a certain aptitude for mistakes in situations of great pressure, Russell in Mercedes seems to have become there instead quintessence of constancy. The talent of King’s Lynn is in fact, together with Charles Leclerc, the only driver to have obtained world championship points in all rounds of the championship. Not only that: Russell is the only rider on the grid to have finished all the GPs in the top-5. An ability to reach the maximum performance ‘granted’ by the car which is, for the moment, the aspect in which he is making a difference compared to Hamilton.
|
Hamilton |
Russell |
---|---|---|
Points |
36 |
59 |
Competition |
1 |
4 |
Qualification |
3 |
2 |
Fast laps |
1 |
4 |
Laps in the top-10 |
204 |
272 |
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