"He’s a living legend" - Lewis Hamilton hailed by former Mercedes teammate

Lewis Hamilton has been called a living legend by former Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. The Finn drove alongside Hamilton for five seasons for the Silver Arrows and together the pair helped Toto Wolff's side dominate F1.

Although Bottas hoped to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Nico Rosberg and become a world champion, he was unable to beat Lewis Hamilton for the majority of their time together. The 32-year-old, however, had no qualms in acknowledging the Briton was better than him.

During the launch event of the Alfa Romeo C42, Bottas was asked about his working relationship with the seven-time world champion. He said:

“I had a great five years with Lewis (Hamilton) as his team-mate, and now actually thinking about it, it was an honour. Like, he’s a living legend! And he’s a great guy and great driver – really fast. He definitely made me work hard to try and beat him. Sometimes I could, but on a season average, I couldn’t. So that’s how it goes. You always meet – eventually – someone who’s better than you and you need to accept it. And I’m fine with it. I’m happy that sometimes when I was at my best that I could beat him.”

Bottas went on to add, saying:

“But we came a long way. We achieved so much together, so many 1-2 results. Five constructors’ championships together. I learned from him about life and about racing, and maybe vice versa as well. So, it was a really good time with him.”

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George Russell hoping to work together with Lewis Hamilton in F1 2022 season

George Russell intends to learn from Lewis Hamilton and work together with the seven-time world champion in the former's first full year with Mercedes in F1.

During the launch event of the Mercedes W13, Russell opened up about the opportunity to drive on the same team as his 'childhood hero' Hamilton by saying:

“You’ve got to remember Formula 1 developed this ruleset with the idea they [the cars] were going to be around four seconds slower, and we’re already hearing from every single team that they’re going to be far, far faster than that. Lewis (Hamilton) and I need to work together, we can’t focus too much on each other because things are constantly changing and that’s why we need to take a step back. We hope Mercedes will still be the fastest team, the fastest car on the grid but there are no guarantees and we need to not be naive to that and to work together to ensure we are.”

Russell joined the Silver Arrows for the 2022 F1 season to replace the departing Valtteri Bottas after signing a massive $6.76 million contract.