“The fireworks will give us a great show”: Naomi Schiff smells tensions between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell as both eye the World Championship
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Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton
While it might seem that Formula 1 is an individual’s sport as it is a single driver who starts the race at the firing of the signal and ends his run by reaching the chequered flag, the reality is vastly different. Working on the car that houses the racer is a massive team of many engineers and mechanics–most of whom do not even make it to the F1 paddocks. They stay back tlat the team headquarters and the garages, developing parts which ultimately help the driver take his car to the front of the grid.
And another hugely important part of a Formula 1 team for any driver is his teammate–an equally capable and competitive racer who looks out for the best results for the team. In case of Mercedes, it seems they have finally hit the jackpot in 2022 with the appointment of Williams alumnus George Russell to drive alongside Lewis Hamilton. While it is not easy matching up to Hamilton, a motorsports legend with seven World Championship titles to his name, Russell delivered at his task and even gave his way more experienced teammate a run for his money.
In his very first year in a Mercedes car as a regular driver, Russell showed everyone impressive results which made fans forget that he is only a debutant at the Stuttgart-based team. The Briton constantly outperformed Lewis Hamilton in the same car, and even brought the German team their only race victory of this year by delivering a great performance at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. And seeing all this, racer and Sky Sports presenter Naomi Schiff is of the opinion that this is only the beginning of a steep competition between Hamilton and Russell.
Naomi Schiff sheds light on her predictions for the future of the Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
In 2022, eight-time World Constructors’ Championship winner Mercedes came out with a car that had abysmal performance and could not even keep the porpoising at bay. But even then, the mechanics managed to improve the car’s settings towards the end of the year, and that helped Russell bring home a race win from Brazil. Seeing all this, Naomi Schiff believes, when Mercedes does develop a Championship-worthy car again, Lewis and George will both have a go at the title and this would create some tension between the two teammates.
Naomi Schiff said, “Mercedes are in a very fortunate position because they have two extremely talented drivers in their team. I think we’ll have a tough battle on our hands. If that car is in the place they expect it to be, I think it’s going to be fireworks. We’re going to see a great show.”
With promises of being back to their winning ways in the upcoming 2023 season, Mercedes have claimed to learn from the takeaways of the recently-ended Championship campaign and be ready for whatever challenges are thrown their way next year. Toto Wolff has said the German team will be back at the front of the grid and will give a good competition to Ferrari and Red Bull, the other top-three teams which have dominated the sport in the recent few years.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)