George Russell rejects Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton theory after exit for Ferrari
George Russell rejects Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton theory after exit for Ferrari
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George Russell has rejected a Mercedes theory that Lewis Hamilton's driving style contributed to him struggling in the current generation of Formula 1 cars while he has thrived. Russell spent three years as Hamilton's team-mate until the end of 2024. And he acquitted himself very well up against the seven-time F1 champion, including finishing above his fellow Brit in their final season together while beating him comprehensively in their qualifying head-to-head.
That whole three-year period was largely difficult for Hamilton. He did not win a race throughout the whole of the 2022 and 2023 seasons before finally ending that drought with victories at Silverstone and in Belgium last year. And, last July, Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin suggested that Hamilton's struggles during the ground-effect era with the current generation of cars could be explained away by a clash in the 39-year-old's driving style.
Shovlin said: "He's struggled with this whole generation of car, really, not suiting his style. He's been working on how he drives. But we had a huge amount of work trying to get the car to be quicker - it just hasn't been quick enough - but also with a handling balance that the drivers can actually attack the lap on Saturday.".
Russell concedes that his own driving style seems to work well with this current crop of F1 cars. However, he rejected any suggestion that it is a major reason behind why he was able to perform so well in comparison to Hamilton during their time together.
