After Giving Lewis Hamilton a Taste of His Own Medicine, George Russell Takes a Leaf Out of His Arch Nemesis’ Book

The 2023 Qatar GP rolled back the years. Formula 1 has been home to some legendary rivalries. And they’ve always had that tipping point. Lewis Hamilton, for instance, has had a lot of tipping points. His shunt with Max Verstappen into Copse at the 2021 British GP and that infamous turn 4 incident at the 2016 Spanish GP with Nico Rosberg spring to mind. Well, George Russell got into a tiff with Hamilton, too at the Qatar GP last weekend. This time around, Hamilton came off much, much worse. Naturally, a lot is going around about how the gloves are finally off at Mercedes. But to rub salt into the 7x champion’s wounds, Russell has now admitted to taking notes from Hamilton’s arch nemesis, Fernando Alonso, as reported by Formula1.com.

Hamilton doesn’t like getting beaten by his rivals. At the 2023 Qatar GP, both, Hamilton and Russell got off to a decent start. But during the run down to turn 1, Hamilton had a tire advantage starting on the softs. He couldn’t possibly let Russell steer clear. But as he tried to swoop around the outside of the Brit and Verstappen, the Mercedes duo came together. As a consequence, Hamilton was sent straight to the gravel trap with his rear right tire missing.

OPENING DRAMAS, OVERTAKE DRILLS AND INTENSE WHEEL TO WHEEL RACING AT THE 2023 FORMULA 1 QATAR GRAND PRIX!!! @F1 😲😲😲😲💯💯💯💯🏎🏎🏎🏎👍👍👍👍🔥🔥🔥🔥

LAP 1: BOTH MERCEDES COLLIDED AT TURN 1 WITH GEORGE RUSSELL BEING SANDWICHED, THUS LEWIS HAMILTON SPUN, LOST HIS TYRE AND DNF pic.twitter.com/AAwgyNC410

— ShawnTAN(SG) (@TanYiFengShawn1) October 9, 2023

Despite the ugly turn of events, Hamilton was quick to assume the blame. He told the media, “I just felt the tap from behind, but I don’t think George had anywhere to go. It’s just one of those really unfortunate situations. I mean, I’m happy to take responsibility.”

George Russell takes inspiration from Lewis Hamilton’s biggest rival

Hamilton and Fernando Alonso don’t exactly see eye-to-eye. And it all boils down to the acrimonious 2007 season where a rookie Lewis Hamilton fought toe-to-toe with 2x champion, Alonso. It got ugly multiple times. While the duo do put up a cordial façade up from time to time, it’s no secret that the baggage from 16 years ago hasn’t really gone away.

With Russell’s epic recovery drive in the context of Hamilton’s DNF still fresh in our memories, Russell decided to serve his countryman another blow. Despite having a 7x champion at close quarters, Russell feels profoundly inspired by his arch enemy, Alonso instead. He revealed, “I give everything, and sometimes you forget to enjoy yourself, to live in the moment with the people around you, and to enjoy the places you visit and to laugh, and not to be that guy who always gives 120 percent is serious and focused on every detail,” while talking about the impact Alonso had on him during his appearance on the ‘High Performance Podcast‘.

One hour of Fernando Alonso at High Performance podcast

Enjoy!

Link: https://t.co/ikBaY8XRx9 pic.twitter.com/DbQLqGNs0J

— Aston Martin F1 updates (@startonpole) August 21, 2023

Alonso has indeed had an impact on Russell. During the podcast, Alonso revealed that if he could change one thing about his illustrious F1 career then it would be the fact that he didn’t enjoy his meteoric success in the earlier years. After imbibing Alonso’s advice, Russell declared, “I am much happier now.”

2023 Qatar GP: The beginning of the end for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s relationship

On the face of it, the status quo is pretty much in place at Mercedes. Hamilton is the master, and Russell is pretty happy being the apprentice, ready to take charge once the old king bows out. But in reality, as evidenced by the events of the Qatar GP, the young pretender is on the prowl for Hamilton’s head.

Throughout the season, Russell has been eager to put Hamilton in his place. Seismic ripples have been sent the 38-year-old’s way many times by the young Briton. But it all came to a head at last weekend’s race.

We’ve seen it before, Hamilton isn’t afraid to throw punches of his own when a championship is on the line. With Mercedes tipped to battle for glory soon, maybe Hamilton and Russell will become the new Senna v. Prost.