Timo Glock warns Lewis Hamilton: “George Russell is a different caliber”
George Russell (L) and Lewis Hamilton (R)
Lewis Hamilton has had not had an amazing season by his own lofty standards. He is currently down 1-7 in the races against his younger teammate, George Russell, who has also not finished outside of the top 5 in any of the races this season: the only driver to have such a record on the whole grid.
Russell even has Hamilton beat in the qualifying sessions, where he is 5-3 up. Lewis Hamilton has not looked comfortable in the Mercedes W13 when compared to George Russell. In Azerbaijan, it was likely at its peak: The track is rather bumpy and has the longest straight on the Formula 1 calendar, which made for a very uncomfortable ride, and Lewis Hamilton complained of back pain. Of course, now the FIA has released a verdict on the porpoising.
At least for the last few years, this is a fairly unprecedented situation for Lewis Hamilton. Since Valtteri Bottas joined in 2017, it had always been clear who is the first driver, and Hamilton had Bottas comprehensively beaten on almost all occasions. After being up against a teammate from whom he almost always had ‘under control’, now Hamilton is up against one that as of yet, has him beaten, and is currently 37 points ahead.
Timo Glock feels that ‘things haven’t come together’ for Lewis Hamilton this year
Lewis Hamilton did not always have it as easy as he had with Valtteri Bottas. The Briton has been teammates with drivers such as Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, and Nico Rosberg, all of whom were more than willing to go up against Hamilton during the races. In fact, Jenson Button outscored Lewis Hamilton during their stint as McLaren teammates, and Fernando Alonso matched him. While he had beaten Nico Rosberg in the seasons before, in 2016 the German had prevailed in the championship.
But perhaps things are not so easy right now, and to adjust again to having a teammate who at least seems like is driving on the same level might be a slight problem for Hamilton. This is the view of former Toyota driver Timo Glock, who told Autobild that Hamilton may not be happy with Russell beating him, among other factors.
“Things just don’t come together this year. It’s like a chain reaction. And then even a Lewis Hamilton stumbles. I also think a lot is going on in his head because he hasn’t been in a situation like this before.”
As quoted by PlanetF1, Glock feels that while Hamilton had his teammates mostly under control before, he is in an entirely different situation with George Russell, who is way ahead in the points tally.
“Actually, he had his teammates under control as good as all of them – but George Russell is a different caliber.”
According to Glock, this will make for an interesting dynamic when Mercedes eventually start competing for victories and fighting at the front once again:
“It remains to be seen how the whole thing develops if Mercedes might be fighting for victories again this year, which I trust them to do.”
For Lewis Hamilton, this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, where he is the record champion, and where he took his first-ever victory, certainly seems like an ideal track to mount a comeback.
Also Read: “I landed in Montreal and went straight to…,” Lewis Hamilton recalls fond childhood memories
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