When George Russell signed the contract to become a Mercedes driver, he would’ve expected many podiums, poles, wins and perhaps even a World Championship challenge against his teammate Lewis Hamilton. None of that has (yet) materialised, but the young Brit has learned a great deal from having Hamilton as a teammate. He reveals a certain aspect which has helped him grow as a driver.
Russell was often branded ‘Mr Saturday’ during his time at Williams. The man from Kings Lynn racked up a ridiculous streak of qualifying sessions in which he would beat his teammate. In fact, he was very rarely beaten and somehow always managed to pull it out of the bag. Immediately, he was able to match or even beat Hamilton at Mercedes, and over the last 59 Grands Prix, their overall duel has been pretty even. Russell still leads the duel in 2024.
“I think qualifying this year has definitely been a real strength of mine. I feel that I’ve been driving faster than ever. And I think a lot of that’s down to being in a really great place psychologically. I’ve worked a lot in making sure when I arrive into Q3, I know how to deal with all of that pressure. And I think that’s been great,” Russell said.
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How has Hamilton managed to help Russell?
Russell feels a much more rounded driver after working alongside seven-time World Champion Hamilton for nearly three full seasons. “I still think I want to improve a little bit with my tyre management, but obviously [Belgium] was pretty good. I’ve learned a huge amount about tyre management by having Lewis as my teammate. I think he was always the very best in race pace and getting the most out of that. So just very small details to make the difference,” Russell added.
Russell and Hamilton have just nine Grands Prix weekends left as teammates. The 39-year-old will move to Ferrari to start a new adventure in his career. Russell’s future teammate at Mercedes is not yet known, but it seems likely to be Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The young Italian will be keen to learn from Russell this weekend in Italy as he will drive his car in FP1.
