"It will really dictate how the rest of his career will go" - Former Mercedes driver terms it important for George Russell to beat Lewis Hamilton 'as much as possible'

Nico Rosberg believes his former team Mercedes made the correct decision to have George Russell replace Valtteri Bottas. The 2016 F1 champion believes that beating Lewis Hamilton and delivering consistent performances in 2022 will define the young Briton’s future.

Praising Mercedes and the young Briton, Rosberg spoke to Sky Sports F1 saying:

“It was very risky to take George [Russell] and replace [Valtteri] Bottas with him because George is such an unknown, but we can say now already it was a brilliant choice. George has been so mature and delivered the maximum points possible with this car.”

Rosberg believes the junior British driver at Mercedes has consistently scored points at every opportunity in the last four races with a troubled car. The German believes his former team was wise to hire George Russell to replace the Finnish driver.

Commenting on the junior Mercedes driver’s career, Rosberg said:

“For George [Russell], it will be a big disappointment because he was going into the season thinking he would be able to race for wins, maybe even a championship, so this is a big setback for him. Nevertheless, he is still very young and for him there is still the giant opportunity to beat, with the same car, the best of all time, it doesn’t matter where they are in the end. That is so important for George, to be very close to Lewis [Hamilton], to beat him as much as possible, because it will really dictate how the rest of his career will go if Mercedes keep him on and things like that.”

Suggesting that the junior Mercedes driver should capitalize on the opportunity, the former world champion feels beating Hamilton could redefine the young Brit's career. In a team riddled with performance woes, this might be an opportunity for George Russell.

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Nico Rosberg feels George Russell dominated Lewis Hamilton in Imola

The former Mercedes champion believes George Russell outperformed the former's old arch-rival Lewis Hamilton with ease at Imola. While the junior British driver has finished in the top five in the last four races consistently, the seven-time world champion has had a rough start to his 2022 campaign. The Mercedes champion has even gone to the extent of ruling himself out of the championship at this early stage itself.

Rubbing salt into his old rival’s wounds, Nico Rosberg praised Russell, saying:

“We have to say he did so brilliantly throughout the weekend at Imola, which was the first time this year he really dominated Lewis [Hamilton] and we are really overlooking that because of where they were. But we need to see he was like four-tenths quicker than Lewis all weekend and ahead of him all weekend, which was really an awesome job by George [Russell] and the first time we really saw this potential World Championship level of driving from him.”

Rosberg has also criticized Hamilton severely for his Imola performance, but believes Toto Wolff is trying his best to keep the Briton motivated. The German, however, believes the Mercedes ace will eventually bounce back to beat Russell. Currently in the drivers' standings, the junior British driver leads his senior compatriot by 21 points.