George Russell Confesses Taking Psychological Help to Match Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

George Russell recalled the time when he had to resort to talking to his psychologist in order to defeat Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

George Russell Confesses Taking Psychological Help to Match Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

George Russell (via Crash.net), and Lewis Hamilton (via The Independent)

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George Russell was paired up with the seven-time champion at Mercedes when the former joined the team in the 2022 season. Russell had the mountainous task of performing well against an extremely talented driver in Lewis Hamilton. However, the 27-year-old quickly learnt the ropes of Brackley and had the seven-time champion beat in his rookie year itself. As such, the then-rookie revealed how his psychologist played a major role in preparing him for the massive task at the German carmaker.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell raced together at Mercedes for three years before the former made a bombshell switch to Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton was hot off a championship-winning streak and a runner-up finish in the 2021 season, after losing the title to Max Verstappen. As such, it was evident that Russell had some moments of fear and self-doubt while going against the 40-year-old.

George Russell recalled his promotion to Mercedes and acknowledged that it felt like jumping three steps of a ladder rather than one. Russell reminisced that before joining Brackley, he had thought to himself about being the best and believing in himself. However, the Briton was unaware of the feeling of going up against one of the best drivers in Formula 1 until he was met with the challenge.

It was a huge day, because it felt like, this climbing the ladder, this didn’t feel like one step up. It felt like I took three steps in one go. And over those coming months before I started the season with Mercedes, I was thinking like, I believe in myself, I believe I can beat anybody, but the truth is, you don’t know until you go up against the best ever.

George Russell said on the Untapped podcast

Russell pointed out that he was thinking about how he would deal with going against Lewis Hamilton mentally. Then one day, he had a long conversation with his psychologist about the pressure of going against Hamilton at Mercedes. After the therapy session, he concluded that he was an F1 driver meant to do his job, no matter if his teammate was a rookie or a seven-time champion. The 27-year-old learnt that he was in control of his destiny and no one else.

I was thinking about how I’m going to deal with this psychologically, until I had a really good conversation with my psychologist about it, and concluded that when I walk into the garage, I’m jumping into my race car, I’m putting my helmet on, I’m putting my visor down. It should not matter if my teammate on the garage next door is a seven time World Champion, or if he’s a rookie, because I’m in control of my own destiny.

George Russell added

George Russell reveals ‘amazing achievement’ against Lewis Hamilton

George Russell emerged as the better driver at Mercedes against Lewis Hamilton in his debut season. Russell finished in P4 in the standings, with Lewis Hamilton trailing the former by 35 points in P6. Moreover, Russell also beat the seven-time champion in the latter’s final season in the 2024 season by a thin margin. As such, the 27-year-old recalled his amazing achievement against the 40-year-old at Mercedes.

George Russell
George Russell (via Motorsport Total)

George Russell remained realistic in his approach against Lewis Hamilton and wasn’t overconfident from the get-go. Russell recalled that his previous results proved that he could beat his teammates 95% of the time. Hence, he accepted that if he beat Hamilton at Brackley, it would be an amazing achievement. However, he reckoned that there was a 95% chance he wouldn’t beat the 40-year-old. Finally, the then-rookie did the unthinkable and beat his seven-time champion teammate.

And finally, taking acceptance that if I were to finish ahead of Lewis in a season… I think my stats against previous teammates were I finished ahead of them like 95 per cent of the time. I concluded, well, if I beat Lewis in a season, that’s going to be an amazing achievement, but I’m not going to beat him 95 per cent.

George Russell noted

Russell is now the lead driver at Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton left for Ferrari. The 27-year-old is also helping rookie Kimi Antonelli learn the ropes of Formula 1 and preparing him well. But, Brackley has endured a difficult season this year and is giving it their all to recover from the performance slump. The final ten races will prove just how better the German carmaker can get in a short span.

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