George Russell thinks Lewis Hamilton could possibly ‘have won every race’ in the past like Max Verstappen in 2022 ‘if he had a different teammate’
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George Russell
It would be an understatement to say that Max Verstappen has dominated Formula 1 in 2022. The Dutchman has 14 wins, an all-time record – the next closest contender this year, Charles Leclerc, has 3, while on points, Sergio Perez is a massive 135 points behind in the Driver’s championship, or whatever is left of it.
For Lewis Hamilton, who has won 7 championships, and was the dominant force with Mercedes in the hybrid era, the maximum number of wins in a season is 11. He could possibly have gone further in 2020, but there were only 17 races that season. His teammate, George Russell thinks Hamilton might have ‘won every race’, if he had a different teammate.
As per The Daily Express, when asked about Verstappen’s record-breaking fourteenth victory, Russell said: “We know how strong Max is and Red Bull just did a really good job. You’ve seen it in the past with teams that are so dominant. When you look back, Lewis and Nico, they won every race. And if Lewis had had a different team-mate in that era, maybe he would have won every race, like Max is doing.”
But Russell reiterated that the Dutchman and Red Bull have done a great job and that he and Mercedes hope to close the gap in 2023: “But Max is doing an excellent job week after week. Red Bull is doing a great job. And we hope to be able to close that gap even further next year.”
Are Mercedes ever going to dominate F1 again?
Especially in the first three years of the hybrid era, Mercedes were completely dominant over the opposition. While they won every Constructor’s and Driver’s championship from 2014 to 2020, they were at least challenged by Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari in 2017 and 2018. In these three years, they won 51 out of 59 (86.4% of total) races held, finishing 1 and 2 in the championship each year.
If Red Bull win the following two races, you could say that they’ve dominated a similar level, even if all of it may not have come from the pace of the car itself, rather, Ferrari have often made critical mistakes, that have taken victories away from their grasp. But the British team have done everything they’ve needed to, and they’ve done it right.
The good thing for Mercedes is that they know the main issue with their car, but it still means that they are ‘eight to ten’ months behind on development compared to Red Bull, as said by Toto Wolff himself. But they aren’t the only competitor: Ferrari had the best (or nearest to best) car for the first part of the season, and they are also likely to be in a strong position next year.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)