“That’s the enemy over there” – Damon Hill and Jenson Button are hoping British compatriots George Russell and Lewis Hamilton get along well in their first season together as Mercedes teammates.
Mercedes next season will see George Russell take Valtteri Bottas’ seat, the former rewarded for his strong performances with Williams.
Russell, unlike Bottas, is expected to be aggressive when it comes to vying for the title himself, but given Lewis Hamilton lost out on a record eighth world title to Max Verstappen, fellow British champion Damon Hill wants Russell to take a back seat and perform a similar role like Bottas did all these years.
“I think it will be great to watch. I’m sure Lewis will be wanting to encourage George. I don’t see it going wrong.
“I think Lewis recognises his timespan is shorter in the sport than George’s, so he will want to play his part in giving him a leg-up – not that he needs one, probably.
“It’s down to George and how he approaches it, I think. You can go into these situations and think ‘right, that’s the enemy over there and I’m out to knock spots off them’.
“That might not be the wisest thing to do with Lewis, I don’t think.
“That’s something to really look forward to next year. I’ll be as excited as anyone to see what will happen.”
Jenson Button agrees with Damon Hill
“He’s [Russell] got to not put pressure on himself. He can’t think ‘I’ll get in the car and be quicker than Lewis on day one’.
“He’s got to build up to it, otherwise he will shoot himself in the foot. You can’t be too confident alongside Lewis.”
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