George Russell says it is a pleasure to work with Lewis Hamilton and that he owes his great success to hard work. The young Briton finds it inspiring and motivating and says he picks up a lot from the seven-time world champion.

Strong season

Russell, who joined Mercedes from Williams, has had a good start to the year despite the car not being able to compete with Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. The 24-year-old Briton has already taken three podiums, has finished in the top five all year and has scored World Championship points in every race. This has earned him the nickname 'Mr Consistency'. Teammate and seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton is not having a particularly strong season. The British driver is struggling with his Mercedes and cannot fight for wins for the time being. He is also no longer the fastest man in the team.

Full of praise

Speaking to the NOS Russell speaks highly of his teammate."Many people think Lewis comes in at the last minute and jumps in the car, but his successes are the result of hard work. It's a pleasure to watch Lewis and his engineers trying to squeeze every millisecond out of the car. Sometimes I watch from a distance how that works. It's very inspiring and motivating."

No copy-paste

Watching the seven-time world champion is also instructive, Russell says. "But it is not a question of copy-paste. Every driver has his own style. What works for Lewis doesn't have to work for me, but of course you pick up things from each other."