The intra-team battle between George Russell and Lewis Hamilton is at an all-time high following the antics in the last two races. Last year, Russell had a great season as he finished P4 in the driver’s standings, 35 points ahead of P6 finisher Hamilton. However, Russell’s performances have been way below what they should’ve been this season, as a result of which, he is currently reeling in P8 while Hamilton is P3 with 190 points. Keeping the same in mind, Alex Albon took a cheeky dig at Russell when the duo, accompanied by Lando Norris, sat down for a candid discussion for F1 TV.
Speaking to the media after the Japanese GP, Hamilton showed contentment with his performances throughout the season. Pointing out that he had scored more points for his team than Russell this year, the 7-time world champion subtly shrugged off any signs of worry that might attract attention. A week later, Albon adds to the misery of Russell.
George Russell must’ve felt the burn by Alex Albon
As Norris, Russell, and Albon sat down to answer questions for Formula One’s YouTube channel, the Thai-British driver took the opportunity to pull Russell’s leg in the most savage way possible. Sharing their thoughts on who was most likely to a championship in the next five years, Albon suggested Russell could land a win soon, despite his team being in a dip. Russell countered with the fact that his team is P2 in the constructor’s championship, 40 points clear of P3. What followed was something no one could have thought of. Albon said as he burst out laughing-
“Lewis must be doing a good job.”
Being a good sport, Russell agreed to the words of Albon despite feeling the sting. He agreed that Hamilton was well ahead of him in the standings and in terms of overall performance. Despite the gap in the standings, the battle between the two Mercedes drivers is closer than ever, and the race in Japan was the latest proof of the same.
Russell happy with the ongoing battle with Hamilton
The Japanese GP saw the two Mercedes drivers coming close to contact on two occasions. As the race raged on, both drivers were eager to outperform each other before taking the challenge to the rest of the grid. Russell would leap over Hamilton at the chicane, but the former world champion would soon take it back. A frustrated Russell even vented on the team radio as he asked whether they were racing against each other or the other drivers.
After the race, though, the younger driver had a different take on the tussle as he said he was happy to be able to put Hamilton under that sort of pressure. Justifying his comments over the radio, Russell claimed he said so only because both of them lost time to other cars on the grid. Having enjoyed better race pace than Hamilton at the start of the race, not being able to overtake him got Russell. However, the 25-year-old remains firm that his goal is to help his team get better rather than try to outperform Hamilton at every turn.
