Lewis Hamilton wants to see George Russell as become the world champion as his teammate at Mercedes after he retires.
Lewis Hamilton appreciated his future teammate George Russell and wants to see the young driver become the world champion. In the next season of the F1 world championship, Russell will replace Valterri Bottass as the Finnish moves on to Alfa Romeo.
Russell has shown an excelling performance in the Williams car. He scored his first points for the team in Hungary and Belgium just a week after receiving the call from Toto Wolff.
Hands up if you can’t wait to see George Russell team up with Lewis Hamilton 🙋♂️🙋♀️#QatarGP 🇶🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/eHn2bMTCQj
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 18, 2021
Hamilton expects big things from the young British driver. He said, “You’ve seen George is hugely respectful. He’s a super-talented young man and I think there’s a huge amount of respect already going in and we’ve got a nice balance at the moment.”
“But he’s going to want to be quick, he’s going to want to show up and win, and do all those things that you do when you enter a new role,” he further added.
The seven-time world champion recalled when he went up against Fernando Alonso in 2007 when he wanted to beat the Spanish driver at the first race itself. He said, “I appreciate and expect George to have that mentality, otherwise, he’s not a winner, you know?”
Lewis Hamilton wants to have a positive influence on George Russell
The 36-year-old British racing driver has already signed a deal to stay at Mercedes until the end of 2024. He acknowledged the fact that there will come a point when he will no longer continue in the sport and said, “I’m in a different place. I really want to see Russell succeed. He is my teammate and he’s gonna be the next Brit I want to see win a world championship.”
“So while we are going to be competing and I want to win on track, I really hope I can have a positive influence on how he conducts himself within the team. Whether it’s the time he commits to engineering or how he churns through the data or even just how he drives on track,” Hamilton further added.
The seven-time world champion has dominated the championship since the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, with one world championship already under his belt.
Russell might face one of the trickiest phases of his career riding alongside the seven-time world champion, who is currently wrapped up in a fierce title battle with Max Verstappen.
Currently, Max Verstappen has an eight-point lead ahead of the upcoming Saudi Arabian Grand Prix before the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
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