Will we get to see an intra-team battle between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell?


Will we get to see an intra-team battle between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell?

George Russell(on the left) and Lewis Hamilton(on the right)

What has made the 2022 season more anticipated is the new duo that we’re going to see in Mercedes featuring 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and newly recruited Mercedes driver George Russell. George Russell is the very first driver to successfully complete Mercedes’ junior driver programme. This season we’ll get to see Hamilton battle it out with not just defending world champion Max Verstappen and others, but also with teammate Russell.

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This duo has the hallmarks of an intra-team rivalry that we got to witness in the 2007 season of F1 between Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Briton Lewis Hamilton. It features the element of a young and upcoming talent with massive potential being paired with a skilled driver who has already proven his worth with his driving prowess.

F1 columnist and former racing driver Karun Chandhok mentioned how there’s a major difference between the pairing of Fernando-Hamilton and Hamilton-Russell. The difference being that Toto anticipates George to be certainly up there battling for pole position and victories from the first race in Bahrain, whereas Ron Dennis recommended Lewis that he spend six months as a protégé, split second behind Fernando.

Fear of past troubles like Rosberg-Hamilton bubbling up to the surface

Mercedes' teammates George Russell and Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes’ teammates George Russell and Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes’ Team Principal Toto Wolff has been extremely particular with the fact that he won’t entertain the toxic environment that Mercedes had to endure in 2016 when Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were paired up. It is because that such an unhealthy environment makes personal management extremely difficult for him to manage the team.

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George demonstrated last campaign and he’s one of Formula 1’s finest qualifiers. Last year’s laps in Silverstone, Spa, and Russia were among the season’s best. Since the Williams wasn’t the most dominant car, it’s difficult to gauge his lap times and tyre usage, therefore we mainly focus on that one off weekend in Bahrain with Mercedes, where he was outstanding.

Karun Chandhok then elaborated on how Hamilton has been exceptional over the years by raising the bar every season through his consistency in displaying reliable behaviour on the grid. Similarly, we can expect the 7-time world champion to put on his best performance in this season as he tries to dethrone newly crowned world champion Max Verstappen.

Also Read: “He’s clearly got the right racing mentality,” Here’s how Michael Schumacher realized that a 16-year-old Lewis Hamilton was destined for big things in F1