Jolyon Palmer feels that having Lando Norris as Lewis Hamilton’s partner at Mercedes would have been a better choice.
After months of speculation, Russell’s long-awaited move to Mercedes was finally announced last September. He replaces Valtteri Bottas at the team, who joins Alfa Romeo racing after spending 6 seasons with the Silver Arrows.
Russell will partner up with 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton in 2022. 2021 was a great year for the young Brit. He scored 16 of the 23 points Williams earned last year, and also took his maiden podium finish in Belgium.
He earned plaudits for his qualifying performances in particular when he took his FW43B into Q3 multiple times over the course of the year.
In spite of his strong outings, former Renault driver Jolyon Palmer feels there was a better alternative for Mercedes to replace Bottas. The 30-year-old picked McLaren star Lando Norris as his preferred choice.
Norris himself had a stellar 2021 campaign, especially in the first half of the year. He stood on the podium 4 times and was also set for his maiden F1 win in Russia before an unfortunate strategy goof-up saw him tumble down to 7th.
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The way Lando Norris held off Lewis Hamilton in Russia was ‘legendary’
In the recent episode of F1: Chequered Flag, host Jack Nicholls shared his thoughts on the Russell-Hamilton pairing at Mercedes.
“If I’m Mercedes and I have a free choice in that second seat alongside Hamilton, I think I’m picking Norris over Russell after this year,” he said. Palmer agreed to what Nicholls said, citing Norris’ Russian GP performance as an example to support the statement.
“I’m going with Jack on it, I’m going with Lando,” the ex-F1 driver said. “The way that he held off Lewis Hamilton at the end of that Sochi race until the strategy and the tyre choice got away from him, was unbelievable.”
“For a guy that has never won a race to have a seven-time World Champion breathing down his neck in a Mercedes.”
“Then it starts raining, and he’s still off the road a couple of times, scrabbling around, but keeping Hamilton, we all know how good he is in the wet, behind him. It was really legendary stuff I think from Norris.” Palmer concluded.
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