Schumacher: 'It bothers Hamilton that Russell is doing this too'

Ralf Schumacher sees Lewis Hamilton having a much harder time with George Russell in 2022 than he did with Valtteri Bottas. According to the German, this also eats away at the seven-time world champion.

After working with Bottas for five seasons, Hamilton will have a new teammate in 2022. Russell had been in good standing with the Mercedes leadership for a while, and in 2021 it was decided that the talent from the Mercedes program would be moved on. For Hamilton, this creates another new situation.

Schumacher argues, according to Motorsport-total.com that Russell is of a different caliber than his predecessor and, above all, is more consistent. Russell is also able to create a positive atmosphere within the team, which makes him very popular. This was normally something Hamilton was good at and according to Schumacher it bothers Lewis that Russell does this now.

Every driver ultimately drives for himself and wants to win those races and lead a team himself. Where Bottas meekly crawled into the role as second driver, it is clear that Hamilton will have a tougher job within Mercedes starting in 2022. Schumacher is sure that this eats away at the seven-time world champion: ''100 percent.''