Lewis Hamilton has had a disastrous start to his final campaign with Mercedes as he only managed to qualify ninth for the season opener in Bahrain. Since the 39-year-old had a poor qualifying outing, he is ready to help Mercedes teammate George Russell, who qualified an outstanding third.
While speaking about the same in his post-qualifying interview, Hamilton said, “Podiums will definitely be the target this season, and George should get on the podium today, which should be good for the team. I will try and back him up as much as I can. We have a north star now, and we know where we need to go”.
Russell indeed did deliver a strong lap during qualifying as he was faster by over two-tenths than Hamilton. While Hamilton may have only managed ninth-fastest during qualifying, he is confident to have a better race because of the setup of his car.
The seven-time champion stated that he took a risk with the setup of his car which should pay dividends during the main race. Similarly to Hamilton, Russell also believes that his teammate can fight for a podium in Bahrain.
While speaking to the media after qualifying, the 26-year-old stated that his and Hamilton’s race pace was very similar to that of the Ferraris and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. With the two Ferraris starting in the top four, there is a possibility that Hamilton can challenge for a podium spot.
George Russell explains how the field is very close in 2024
After qualifying, George Russell revealed that he expects Max Verstappen to have a comfortable race and take the win. As for the other two podium places, the Briton expects there to be a tough fight among all the drivers between P2 and P9.
As quoted by Junaid, Russell said, “Super close between eight drivers out there, and in Bahrain it can go anywhere. It could be a two-stop race with a lot of deg, but then it’s the coolest conditions we’ve ever seen in Bahrain. The reality is that we definitely have a fight on our hands for P2 or P3, and I think anyone from Charles to Lewis in P9 can fight for a podium”.
If Lewis Hamilton does manage to get close to Russell, it will be interesting to see if the 39-year-old ends up helping his compatriot or not. There is a possibility that if Hamilton does manage to get up to Russell, he would fancy fighting the 26-year-old for a podium spot.
