“I expect him to come back so strong,” George Russell on Lewis Hamilton after a disastrous weekend at the Imola GP

“I expect him to come back so strong,” George Russell on Lewis Hamilton after a disastrous weekend at the Imola GP

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on opposite sides of the spectrum as far as performances are concerned. It’s been evident that George Russell has been able to get more out of the W-13 and in turn has gotten the better off the seven time world champion and team mate, Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes has looked outright average and has not looked even close to compete with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull.

During this time of crisis, when we expected Lewis Hamilton to come forward and lead the team, he seems to be struggling and that role has been taken over by the youngster, George Russell. Imola GP was yet another example of that. Both the drivers failed to make it into Q3 and the sprint was no different. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell started from P13 and P11 respectively for Sunday’s race.

We expected some sort of response from both the drivers but got it from only one of them. It was Mercedes’ prodigy and not the veteran. George Russell was quick to make five places early on and eventually fended off ex Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas, to secure P4. While George Russell was busy making an impression, Lewis Hamilton was stuck behind Pierre Gasly for the best part of 30 laps to secure P13.

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Also Read: “We now believe that Bahrain was just a slip-up,” Andreas Seidl following Lando Norris’ Imola podium

George Russell places confidence in Lewis Hamilton to bounce back from this slump

George Russell
George Russell

In spite of the dismal performance, George Russell has complete faith in his team mate to bounce back in the Miami GP. He said, “I expect him to come back so strong, and the way he’s pushing and motivating the team is inspiring.“

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“I don’t know what happened with him [Lewis] at the start, but we are equally struggling. I’m not getting comfortable with this position, because I know what he’s capable of.”

“It’s just been a really difficult position for us as a team, and perhaps with my struggles at Williams driving very difficult cars, maybe that’s helped in some small regard,” as reported by autosport.

George Russell is playing the perfect team game to support his team mate while racking some valuable points on the table for Mercedes. But, it’s about time for Lewis Hamilton to up his game to help both Mercedes and George Russell.

Also Read: Max Verstappen takes “cheeky” dig at Mercedes after lapping Lewis Hamilton