Mercedes star George Russell rubbishes claim about ‘fighter’ Lewis Hamilton

Russell excited to get started with Mercedes

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George Russell has dismissed the idea that he has an advantage over new team-mate Lewis Hamilton after an off-season in which the seven-time world champion’s future in Formula 1 was called into question. According to the new man at Mercedes, his garage partner is as ready to go as ever.

Speculation over Hamilton’s potential retirement began before he had even left the track after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.

He had just lost out on the title to Max Verstappen in controversial circumstances when he was posed a question about his future.

“We’ll see,” he said cryptically when asked if he would be back on the grid in 2022.

That simple answer – or absence of one – combined with his radio silence for the next two months, only fuelled speculation that he was ready to call time on his racing career.

It was only when he ended his social media hiatus and declared: “I’m back,” that we knew he would be coming back for more.

After that, his timeline was filled with photos and videos of him at the Mercedes facility in Brackley to get up to speed ahead of the 2022 campaign.

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Russell, meanwhile, had already been talked through everything in January as he had been immersing himself in all things Mercedes after signing for the team.

But the man from Norfolk does not believe that has given him any form of advantage over his much more experienced rival.

“Lewis is a fighter, he’s a racer,” he said.

“His absolute main priority is to be the best version of himself when he hits the track in Bahrain for race one.

“He’s more experienced than I am. He knows what it takes to be a world champion and he knows what preparation he needs over the course of a pre-season to prepare himself best for that first race.

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“Everybody’s different. I’ll have a different approach probably to Lewis, he’ll have a different approach to another driver, and that’s for all of the Formula 1 drivers.

“You need to learn what is best for you and respect how each individual does that.”

Meanwhile, wants are waiting with intrigue to see what the dynamic will look like between Hamilton and Russell at Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion spoke only very highly of his last team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, praising his teamwork and describing him as the “perfect partner”.

But that may have had something to do with the Finn failing to offer stern competition, as Hamilton’s previous team-mate relationships have not always been so rosy.

Things got heated between him and Nico Rosberg when they were fighting for the 2016 title – a battle that the German eventually won before announcing his immediate retirement.

And it was a similar story with Fernando Alonso at McLaren, when the Spaniard was irked by a younger Hamilton when he first burst onto the scene.

As the man in charge of the team, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is hoping to avoid a repeat of any infighting.

“This year, the interesting situation is we have in George the up-and-coming star [in one seat], and undoubtedly the best Formula 1 driver ever in the other seat,” the Austrian said.

“So the dynamic is new and clearly it’s something that we will try to steer in a direction that has the most positive effect on developing the car and making us overall competitive.”

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