“First mutual impressions have been very positive” – George Russell will use an adapted version of Lewis Hamilton’s steering wheel at Mercedes

George Russell will replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes in the 2022 season and has already tried out his new steering wheel.

Mercedes will have an all-British lineup in the 2022 championship season. George Russell will take a seat next to Lewis Hamilton, who is 13 years his senior.

Russell has been a junior driver for the Brackley-based team since early 2017. The 23-year-old naturally already has an understanding of how the Mercedes team works. In 2020, when Hamilton suffered Covid-19, Russell stood up and raced in the Sakhir Grand Prix.

Ahead of his big move from Williams, Russell has been able to re-familiarise himself with the Mercedes procedures. During the Pirelli test of next year’s 18-inch tyres at Yas Marina just after the season finale, Russell drove for Mercedes in a mule car.

That was the opportunity for him to not only re-orient himself with the engineers but also gain experience with the steering wheel that has been modified for him.

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George Russell asked the team to adapt to Hamilton’s wheel

In 2019, during his first season with the Williams, Russell had used a standard wheel instead of the one that had been customised to suit his hand and finger movements.

The standard wheel has two clutch levers with a single thimble. But in 2020, the system evolved with two metal fingers.

But after Russell had driven Hamilton’s car in Bahrain, he asked the Grove team to adapt the same steering wheel. Russell discovered how much more modular the clutch release was at the start with a single rocker arm and so he requested that on his Williams car.

Thus upon his arrival at the Mercedes for the Abu Dhabi test, Russell already had a steering wheel that was adapted to his specific needs. He drove with a single lever on the right that had a much shorter rocker arm than Lewis.

He wanted to enter immediately into the mentality of the top team that will be behind him next year, seeking immediate harmony with the technicians that will be dedicated to him. And the first mutual impressions have been very positive.

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