Lewis Hamilton fires warning to Mercedes team-mate George Russell

Lewis Hamilton on difficult season for Mercedes in November

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Lewis Hamilton has fired a warning to George Russell as the seven-time champion targets Mercedes success. The Mercedes star feels he will “get better” ahead of the new campaign and vows to “extract more performance” from the new car.

It comes after Russell beat Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship last season in one of the shocks of 2022. Hamilton said: “I continue to love racing, I don’t think that’s ever going to change as part of my DNA.

“I just always believe I can get better, I just always love that challenge of the mental and the physical element of it. Having to deep dive and see how you can extract more performance from yourself and the people around you.”

Naomi Schiff laughed that it was “scary” to think Hamilton could get any better after his dominance over the last decade. Russell became only the third team-mate to beat Hamilton over the course of a season last year after a stunning debut season.

Russell finished 35 points ahead of his more experienced team-mate with Mercedes chiefs claiming Hamilton’s disadvantage was down to him working on the car early in the season. The 25-year-old scored consistent top-five finishes early on while Hamilton fell back into the midfield as he tried various set-ups.

Hamilton appeared to eventually abandoned experimenting with the car and gradually began beating Russell. However, the 38-year-old struggled after the summer break while Russell continued his consistency to continue outsourcing Hamilton.

Mercedes’ new W14 sees the team return to a black livery which they achieved success with back in 2020.

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The car also features updated sidepods in a bid to solve some of their aerodynamic concerns last season. However, Russell stressed the team had learned from their 2022 struggles as they attempt to return to the top.

He explained: “The personal learnings we all went through, the technical learnings, that’s all gone into the car that’s sat just across from us right now. Hopefully, we have taken a step up.

“We’re all here to win, it’s as simple as that. We need to go out there and see what challenges we’re facing. The team have put so much hard work into this car. The motivation and fire within the factory is immense because people don’t want a repeat of what happened in 2022. We’re ready for it, and we’re motivated to go out there and fight.”

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