George Russell opens up on beating Lewis Hamilton twice in 3 years as a teammate in Mercedes

George Russell has addressed the achievement of beating Lewis Hamilton twice in three years and feels that if he were in another time, he would have been a 2x world champion already. The Mercedes driver made the jump to the German team in 2022 after spending three years honing his craft at Williams.

Once that breakthrough came, what we had was a scenario where George Russell was teaming up with Lewis Hamilton, and the duo had the new ground effect regulations in front of them. As it turned out, the British driver was more or less ready to fight at the front of the grid.

During the 3-year stint with Lewis Hamilton as his teammate, George Russell beat him twice. In conversation with the Athletic, the young Brit pointed out the fact that before he joined the team in 2022, beating Hamilton often meant that you were either winning the races or the title, and in a different time when the car was dominant, he would have been a 2x world champion by now. He said,

“Being teammates with a seven-time world champion for three years is not straightforward. There was once a time that if you finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton in a championship or in a race, you’d win the race. Or, if you’d finish ahead of the championship, you’d win the championship. If my time was five years prior, you could argue I’d have two championships in my name.”

George Russell on life at Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton

Talking about life after Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, George Russell emphasized that nothing has changed. He still followed the same routine and still did things the same way. He said,

“I’m just going about my business, as I have been the last couple of years. I’m working with the same group of engineers, the same group of mechanics. Obviously, Lewis was such a large presence that his absence is noticeable. But on the day-to-day running of things, it is no different. I’m sitting at my desk in front of my computer. I do my warm-up in my room, I jump in my race car, I put my helmet on. I want to control my own destiny first and foremost.”

Ever since Lewis Hamilton left, George Russell has stepped up as team leader. The British driver has shown an ability to be very consistent now, adding that element to his already brilliant pace in the car.

He has secured multiple podiums this season and is currently 4th in the championship. The driver has been praised by the Mercedes boss and has shown that he can be a frontrunning contender in the right car.

George Russell's contract does, however, expire at the end of the season, and it will be interesting to see when and if the contract extension is finally signed.