Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be teammates at Mercedes in 2022, and Christian Horner expects the former to face difficulties.
For the last five seasons, Hamilton’s role at Mercedes was pretty much that of a ‘number 1 driver’. His then teammate Valtteri Bottas was solid, but didn’t put up much of a challenge for the Brit. After the 2021 season however, Bottas left Mercedes and will now race for Alfa Romeo in 2022.
Former Williams driver George Russell will be Hamilton’s teammate for the upcoming campaign. Russell has been long billed as a potential future champion, and his move to a top team like the Silver Arrows was seen as imminent.
That’s a wrap for @GeorgeRussell63 in Barcelona! 👏👏 Another productive session. Nice one, Team 😃 pic.twitter.com/lYVRaVhb69
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 25, 2022
With Russell now a part of the team, many wonder which driver will be prioritized within. Hamilton is one of the greatest of all time, and will enter 2022 with the aim of winning his eighth World Title. Russell on the other hand, is a generational talent, who can be molded as the future of the team.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner feels that Hamilton will find it difficult to adjust to life with Russell at the team. On top of that, he thinks that a 37-year old Hamilton will finally have age catch up to him.
Lewis Hamilton is going to be very motivated this season but Russell could be a headache for him
Hamilton put in the fastest lap of all 10 drivers during pre-season testing in Barcelona last week. On the final day, he edged out his teammate to finish P1 on the lap-timings chart.
After losing out on his eighth Title in Abu Dhabi in heartbreaking fashion, rumors about Hamilton leaving the sport surfaced. However, he put an end to speculation by turning up at Brackley, and looks hungrier than ever to create history this year.
Horner on the other hand feels that 23-year old Russell, could be a roadblock in Hamilton’s path the glory. He went on to say that the young Brit has ‘history of his own’ to create.
New car, new teammate, new year, new drive. @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/A72n5VhcgO
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) February 19, 2022
Horner cited the example of Max Verstappen to describe how he thinks Russell will be feeling ahead of the season. For the first time in his F1 career, the latter has a car that is potentially capable of competing for the Championship. As a result, he would want to make good use of it.
His own desire to win and be the best, may affect Hamilton’s undisputed ‘number 1 driver’ role within the outfit.
Also read: Alex Albon gives his insights on the new generation cars after completing testing in Barcelona
