Russell sees big opportunity: 'Think I'll work well with Hamilton'

George Russell has an exciting time ahead of him. The 24-year-old is starting his first season as a Mercedes driver and will be teaming up with the experienced Lewis Hamilton. Russell himself expects that it will go smoothly and that he can learn a lot from his teammate.

Mercedes has been working with Russell for some time

Russell is no stranger to the Mercedes factory. The Briton has been running around Brackley since 2017 after signing his contract with the junior team. As a result, Russell has previously been able to experience up close how the team and Hamilton operate. That relationship diminished in recent years as he joined Williams. Still, he doesn't expect any problems with the partnership.

"Obviously my working relationship with Lewis over the past three years hasn’t been as close as it was four or five years ago when I was a junior driver seeing him work week in week out," Russell tells GPblog and others in an online press event.

The Briton continues, "It always amazes me how someone as talented and successful as Lewis continues to strive for me. That’s inspiring and motivating as a young driver to try and reach the heights that Lewis has achieved. What an opportunity for me to be his teammate and learn from him, to see how he goes about his business. I think we’ll have a good relationship between the two of us and work well together to push the team forward."

Russell looks up to Hamilton

Now Russell gets the chance to prove himself alongside Hamilton. With seven world titles and eight constructor titles at Mercedes, the 37-year-old driver has a lot more experience compared to his new teammate, but Russell is not worried about that. His goal is to learn a lot especially from Hamilton, who was a great example to him for years.

"Lewis is a fighter and a racer. His main priority is to be the best version of himself when he hits the track in Bahrain. He is far more experienced than I am, he knows what it takes to be World Champion and knows what preparation he needs over the course of pre-season to prepare himself best for the first race. Everyone is different, you need to learn what’s best for you and respect how each individual does that."