"He can just handle it better and that bothers Lewis" - George Russell is 'a different caliber' for Lewis Hamilton compared to his previous teammates, says former F1 driver

George Russell's start to life at Mercedes has impressed everyone. The British driver has finished every race of the 2022 F1 season inside the top 5 in his Mercedes. En route, he has beaten his teammate, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, in the last 4 races. It is something that Ralf Schumacher, the former driver and brother of F1 legend Michael, feels is probably bothering Hamilton.

Speaking about Russell, Schumacher said:

“He’s also someone who picks people up - just like Hamilton. He makes a likable and very chummy impression in the team. He digs the water out of Lewis a bit in every way. He can just handle it better and that bothers Lewis, I’m pretty sure. That’s clear, he’s an egoist, like all of us were as racing drivers, and I was too, I admit that. In any case, I have to say, it will bother him. One hundred percent!”

Schumacher also highlighted that Hamilton was still not entirely comfortable in the car even though Mercedes appeared to be making progress at the Miami GP.

He said:

“Lewis is still struggling with the car and has often complained - ok, we know that even if he was fast - but he still has his difficulties there. At least it’s going in the right direction.”

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Interesting dynamics developing between George Russell and Lewis Hamilton

George Russell was inducted into Mercedes with the expectation that he will be the understudy of Lewis Hamilton for the 2022 F1 season. The young Brit has been touted as the future lead driver for Mercedes by F1 pundits. Not many, however, would have expected Russell to have a next-to-nothing acclimatization period in Mercedes and be straight on the pace of his more experienced teammate from the very first race.

Even in the first race of the season in Bahrain, Russell was right on the tail of Hamilton and finished 4th behind his teammate. Ever since, he has not put a foot wrong. He was arguably lucky with the safety car in Australia and Miami, which helped him finish ahead of Hamilton, but in Saudi Arabia and Imola, he was clearly the better Mercedes driver. That Hamilton didn't like losing to his teammate in Miami was quite visible.

The seven-time world champion will be desperate to beat his teammate at Barcelona because a 23-point deficit does not look good for him.