Lewis Hamilton and George Russell made up for one of the most intense teammate battles in 2023, with multiple incidents reminding everyone just how good the two of them are. Their first incident came during the Spanish GP Qualifying session, where the duo made contact with each other, but it did not result in catastrophe for either. The Qatar GP crash came bearing much more bad news for the Mercedes camp, as Hamilton had to suffer from a DNF in the first lap of the race after colliding with Russell at the first corner. Given the same, Russell recently spoke about how he and Hamilton still trust each other, and the competition between them is a healthy one.
In the past, Russell has spoken about Hamilton several times, mostly praising just how good of a driver he is. However, he is also labeled as a world champion in the making, so he wants to compete for the title himself. For that, Mercedes needs to reach the top again and both Russell and Hamilton have to trust each other.
Speaking to Motorsport in an interview, Russell revealed how the “flashpoints” between him and his teammate from 2023 were entirely normal, given how evenly they matched up in any race. The duo’s head-to-head stats for the 2023 qualifying session serve as further proof of the even playing field at Mercedes, given both drivers had an even 11-11 split.
“I think also we trust one another. There may be tense [moments], it may be hard, but we trust one another. We know that we’ll give each other enough space to fight necessarily and not go beyond the limit.”
The trust between the Mercedes teammates also arises from the team’s strategies, which both drivers follow to the T. Russell revealed he and Hamilton go over their race strategies in team meetings to make each other aware of what they’ll be doing. As such, Russell believes “the pace difference between the two us is zero.”
George Russell aspires to be on the level of Lewis Hamilton
Planet F1 recently issued a report on Russell, where the Briton claimed he felt like he was on par with the average pace of his Mercedes teammate throughout 2023. Many fans misunderstood the 25-year-old’s words and believed he claimed to be equal in performance to Hamilton. They took X to express their dissatisfaction with the same, further signifying how they could not understand Russell’s claims.
In reality, however, Russell mentioned he aspired to one day be on Hamilton‘s level while claiming he had the outright pace to match that of the seven-time world champion. It wouldn’t be an easy task, though, given the 38-year-old is a seven-time world champion and a 103-time Grand Prix winner. Having enough pace is one thing, but sustaining that pace for an average of 50 laps per race is where it gets tricky. Nonetheless, the severity of the challenge does not faze the Briton, who realizes his goal of surpassing Hamilton might not be realistic, but it is “definitely not a bad benchmark.”
