They may only have been teammates for three races, but Lewis Hamilton has only praise for his heir George Russell in the other Mercedes.
After a harmonious five years at the German team with hassle-free Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes, with the Finn packed off to Alfa Romeo, highly-rated 24-year-old Russell has stepped up with the goal to lead the team when 37-year-old Hamilton retires.
The differences between the pair are stark; Hamilton will make his 292nd Grand Prix starts at Imola next week with 103 wins to his name. Russell on the other hand was nine years old when his teammate made his F1 debut, and of course, spent two years at Williams thanks to Mercedes funding, but has yet to win a Grand Prix in 63 starts.
By the end of his second year in Formula 1, Hamilton had nine Grand Prix victories to his name.
Nevertheless, expectations were that Russell might upset the apple cart and challenge Hamilton more severely than he was challenged during the Bottas era, some even predicting problems between the pair when fighting for the same piece of tarmac.
That might still transpire in the future but for now, the pair are not contenders to win races and less likely any title this year. This is in the wake of gobbling up 15 F1 titles in eight years. And much like the other Mercedes-powered brigade (bar McLaren perhaps) who have produced below-par kit for their drivers, namely Aston Martin and Williams.
So, rather than battling for crumbs, (as other driver pairings tend to do) Russell and Hamilton have plugged and played well, so said the seven-time F1 World Champion after the 2022 Australian Grand Prix: “It’s incredible, he’s done an amazing job.
“He did an amazing job, had great pace, he’s been so solid these first three races. He’s working and really grafting away; he’s doing an amazing job.”
The Mercedes W13 is proving to be a ‘problem child’ this season
Despite their ‘radical’ package flopping early this season, there are signs that they may well find that elusive ‘magic button’ in there somewhere – if any team can, they can; notably, they were not too shabby in race trim and with that, Russell and Hamilton are hauling points that they should not be doing.
Hamilton said of the current pecking order, in which Mercedes is hovering around third or fourth depending on the session: “I prefer to stay optimistic. There are 20 races to go. If you think realistically with the way our sport goes in terms of everyone’s development… the top teams often develop at a similar pace, a similar rate.”
Mercedes have previously had early-season ‘problems’ with their cars, but nothing like now. In the ‘old days’ by the first race, the Mercs would invariably be sorted and the F1 titles poured in. But this time around it’s far more serious than the wolf cries of the past, the problems are real.
Despite only having 28 points on the board after three rounds, and trailing Ferrari’s championship leader Charles Leclerc by 43 points, Hamilton is not throwing in the towel: “Will that be the case with this new car? Who knows?
“I’m really, really hopeful we can get in the fight soon. But with every bit of improvement, we will probably make, Ferrari and Red Bull will probably make a similar sort of step, so it’s not going to be easy. And yes, the gap is pretty big right now but there is a long way to go.
“We’ve got some improvements that we need to make, and we need everyone’s support in doing so. Just making sure we leave no stone unturned, and we are maximising absolutely every moment.
“So, a lot of Zooms chasing the people in the wind tunnel, the aero guys, just looking at absolutely every single area. There is performance to be gained in areas that we know – and we need it now, not in two or three races…
“As a team, we’ve just got to keep up that encouragement, keep that energy high. I’ll be on the simulator in prep for the next race,” added Hamilton; his next stop is Imola where, in 2020, the Briton was victorious which may be a bridge to far unless, of course, they find something substantial in the woeful W13 before then.
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— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 14, 2022