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Column | Will Hamilton V Russell end in another fallout?
After three impressive seasons at Williams, George Russell has finally received the green light to join the works Mercedes team. With his highly rated skills and impressive qualifying performance, some suggest that the young Briton may pose a direct threat to his teammate, Sir Lewis Hamilton. How will the two drivers fare and will the Silver Arrows face another circumstance of intra-team turmoil?
Teammate history
Lewis Hamilton has had an interesting dynamic when it comes to teammates. He got on well with the likes of Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen and more recently, Valtteri Bottas. However, two of the most controversial pairings which the Briton had experienced would’ve been the likes of Fernando Alonso & Nico Rosberg. In both circumstances, both drivers were consistently challenging at the front end of the grid and locking each other in battles would result in raised eyebrows and bated breath. While Hamilton has not experienced a teammate pushing him to the absolute limit in Valtteri Bottas, some may expect a different showing once his new teammate arrives on the other side of the garage.
The newcomer, George Russell, has made something of a reputation for consistently outperforming his teammates, particularly in qualifying trim. After his meteoric ascension - claiming successive titles in F3 & F2 - he continued his impressive showing by outqualifying experienced and returning veteran Robert Kubica in 2019. This continued in 2020 and 2021, only being beaten by Valtteri Bottas (2020 Sakhir GP stand-in) and Nicholas Latifi on two occasions. While he has been outperformed in races before, there is still enough to suggest that he would be an impressive driver for anyone to be teammates with.
Mentorship
An expectation remains, all the same, from Mercedes’ side. Above all, they would like some sort of teaching and guidance to occur from the experienced Hamilton to the junior Russell. While his three-year internship served to guide him on the nitty-gritty of the F1 spectacle and racing aspects, the jump to Mercedes will still be a sizeable one. By having a knowledgeable expert in similar machinery, Russell can corroborate with his senior-status teammate to explain particular setup and race management strategies, while also being a sounding board in cases of difficulty. Mercedes want to shape Russell as the future leader of the silver arrows and learning from one of the best will be an opportunity that they don’t want to be compromised.
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Expectations
There should be a greater expectation for the drivers to mind themselves and not risk good points for the team by fighting one another. Mercedes cannot downplay Hamilton as he is a seven-time world champion and they cannot downplay Russell as he is one of the highly touted and respected members of the “new generation of drivers”. Mercedes would’ve certainly learnt from their infamous “Hamilton-Rosberg” pairing and would also hunger for a more ferocious driver line-up than “Hamilton-Bottas”. Both drivers are of an elite mentality, coming on leaps and bounds while holding an incredibly professional attitude. By inculcating good behaviour for both drivers, they may be able to prevent another serious fallout. If all goes well, the German marque may end up with a truly powerful pairing.
