Mario Andretti claims “extraordinary” Lewis Hamilton now ‘only a human’ against George Russell at Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has spent over a decade at Mercedes in F1. The 39-year-old achieved historic success with the Silver Arrows. However, the seven-time world champion will be leaving for Ferrari at the end of this year. Now, F1 legend Mario Andretti has pointed out how George Russell exposed Hamilton’s weaknesses in the past two seasons.

Andretti highlighted that Lewis Hamilton had always enjoyed race-winning machinery in the sport. Moreover, the seven-time world champion didn’t need to push himself to the limit which allowed him to make less mistakes. On the other hand, Mario Andretti claimed that Mercedes was a paradise for George Russell who had spent three seasons at Williams with underwhelming cars.

Lewis has often had cars with which he could win during his career, he did not always have to get 100% out of them and that is why he made few mistakes. Russell had to fight at Williams every moment because the car was not competitive. When he came to Mercedes, he thought he had ended up in paradise.

Mario Andretti told Gazzetta dello Sport

The ex-F1 champion claimed that Russell was used to fighting every race from his days at the Grove-based team. However, Lewis Hamilton who seemed extraordinary during Mercedes’ dominance in the sport, appears to only be human as the Silver Arrows struggle in the ground-effect era. Although, Andretti highlighted that Michael Schumacher had a similar faith on his F1 comeback with Mercedes in 2010.

Now he [George Russell] sees that he has to fight again and again. However, he is used to that and that is why he now stands for Lewis. Hamilton seemed to be extraordinary, but we see that he is only human. That was also with (Michael) Schumacher the case, when he returned to the sport.

Mario Andretti explained

Mario Andretti feels ‘sorry’ for Carlos Sainz amidst Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari arrival

Lewis Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari next year. The seven-time world champion was given a $430 million contract by Maranello. However, Mario Andretti confessed that he felt sorry for the Spanish driver who had been sacrificed to bring in Hamilton. Nevertheless, the 84-year-old was confident that Sainz would find a seat for next season.

I'm a bit sorry to see that he was sacrificed to bring Hamilton in. But I'm sure, given how he races, he'll find a seat where he can race for victory.

Mario Andretti stated

Moreover, the former F1 champion was curious to see Lewis Hamilton race for the Scuderia. Andretti emphasized that racing for the Prancing Horse was Hamilton’s great desire before retiring from the pinnacle of motorsport.

However, it will be very interesting to see what Lewis is going to do at Ferrari, because it was his great desire to ever end his career with Ferrari.

Mario Andretti concluded

Certainly, Lewis Hamilton will have high ambitions for his stint at Ferrari next season. The seven-time world champion would be looking to bounce back after a string of underwhelming campaigns with Mercedes. As such, fans would be eagerly waiting to see Hamilton race in red for Maranello in 2025 and beyond. Although, the 39-year-old would aim to end his journey with Mercedes on a high note this year.

In case you missed it:

• ‘I miss the viciousness,’ Ex-F1 team owner urges Lando Norris to show ‘real fight and determination’
• Toto Wolff admits Mercedes hasn’t fixed ‘fundamental issue’ with W15 despite changing everything

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