George Russell Makes Regretful F1 Legend Eat His Words After Beating Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes Game

Sabyasachi Biswas | 16/05/2023
Former F1 Champion Claims Lewis Hamilton No Longer Has What It Takes to Compete With George Russell

George Russell has been a phenomenal driver for Mercedes so far. From having a consistent record of top-five finishes in his first year on the team to beating his veteran teammate Lewis Hamilton, the young Briton has raised multiple eyebrows.

A regular name in Q3 of the qualification, the man with the most points for the Silver Arrows last season and ultimately with the only win of 2022, Russell’s debut season for the German team has been nothing but brilliant.

Ever since he arrived at the team by replacing Alfa Romeo-bound Valtteri Bottas, expectations regarding him were high, thanks to his Williams days. In the end, the 25-year-old simply adhered to and lived up to all the expectations.

The experts as well as the paddock regard the former Williams driver so highly that they consider him a championship protagonist against Max Verstappen. Admittedly, with the right car, he can easily jeopardize Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance.

George Russell proved everyone wrong, including Eddie Jordan

As the younger Briton has managed to dethrone the seven-time world champion, he shocked many, including Eddie Jordan. The 75-year-old who didn’t think Russell would pull off such a season admitted to his “wrong” prophecy.

Speaking about this, Jordan revealed in Formula For Success podcast, “I got it wrong with George. I got it wrong.” Following this, he added, “He absolutely blew me away. He did. Full marks, hands up, I got that wrong.”

I never thought that he’d what he’s doing. And I never thought that he’d be beating Lewis,” concluded the Irish international. Furthermore, former Red Bull star David Coulthard mentioned that this was the first time Jordan has admitted to being wrong.

Russell on overpowering Hamilton

Even though the 25-year-old managed to pull off what only Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button could against Hamilton, it wasn’t a big deal for him. According to him, what mattered most to him was his first GP win.

George Russell picked up just the first Grand Prix win and the only win for Mercedes in Brazil last year. Speaking about this, he said as per Auto Motor und Sport, “For me, this victory in Brazil was more important than the points classification.”

Russell beat Hamilton by 35 points last year. With a win, a pole position, and eight podiums, he was in P4 with 275 points, compared to Hamilton’s nine podiums and P6 with 240 points.

Post Edited By: Shreya Sanjeev

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.