George Russell was a solid teammate against Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes F1 between 2022 and 2024. The young Briton is pleased to have been fast in ground effect single-seaters for three years, even if he was already very solid on the previous generation cars, but think it's just a matter of comfort with the way they handle.
“I think my natural driving style probably worked well in these cars” Russell said. “But my qualifying results against my previous generation teammates were good and in all categories, and my qualifying results were excellent.”
“I don't think there's anything special with this generation but, obviously, Lewis has been my most difficult teammate, so I think that's why it's been highlighted a little bit more .”
Russell is also pleased to have progressed over the seasons, and even for seasons thanks to his understanding: “We learn throughout the season what to do to get the most out of the tires, what to do to exploit the car's strengths and what to do to be wary of its weaknesses. “
“I know exactly where the strengths and weaknesses of the car are and what I need to pay attention to. I think I've done a pretty good job of closing that chapter, moving forward and learning from it, whereas I think my younger self would probably linger on something longer.”
“I remember in 2022 I had a series of very bad races. It was the first time in the season that I was not on the pace compared to Lewis. It was the first time in My career that I wasn't on the pace and that probably hampered me for one or two more races.”
“Whereas now, even in a FP3 session, if I'm behind him, or even in the Q2 session, if I'm behind him, I don't stress. I know that what happened before didn't matter. It's this lap in Q3 that will make the difference.”
