“Lewis Hamilton knows how good he is”: Former F1 champion is not worried about 7-time champion qualifying behind George Russell 

Former F1 World Champion Jenson Button believes that Lewis Hamilton will not be fazed by George Russell outperforming him in the Miami GP qualifying.

As Mercedes enters the sixth race of the season, they do it with the sole motive of blowing some life into their dismal campaign. The eight-time Constructors' champions have only secured 58 points so far, and find themselves ranked fourth in the F1 standings behind McLaren.

With both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell underperforming, the German outfit would hope to turn their fortunes around in the Miami Grand Prix. With Russell set to start from P7, and his teammate Hamilton one place behind at P8, former driver Jenson Button believes that Hamilton would not be worried about his qualifying performance.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Button, a former teammate of Lewis Hamilton, stated:

"Will it affect him? I don’t think it will affect him, being just behind his teammate."

Part of this, Button attributed to Hamilton's composure to his self-assurance. According to him, this composure is also because the seven-time World Champion is in his final season with Mercedes before he jumps ship to Ferrari next season. Button added:

"Lewis is in a comfortable place mentally. He knows how good he is. I don’t think he’s got to worry about that. And he’s also leaving next year!"

Speaking of Hamilton’s qualifying performance at the Hard Rock Stadium, Button added:

"The reason why he was quicker on the mediums is because, on the softs, it looked like he overheated on one corner. That carried around the rest of the lap so he lost a massive chunk in two corners."

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Lewis Hamilton previews Miami GP expectations

Reflecting on his qualifying performance, Hamilton stated (via RacingNews365):

"I think we maximised the setup and the car was good, [it had] great balance."

However, the Mercedes driver remained cautious about the pace of his rivals, acknowledging the challenge ahead while expressing his intent to seize opportunities to advance during the race. Lewis Hamilton added:

"I don't know if we have the same pace as the guys ahead. We’ll wait and see but we're a little bit closer and further up [from the sprint]. Hopefully we can try and attack and see if we can get on top of some of these guys in front of us."

Hamilton is ranked ninth in the F1 Drivers' standings. He has 19 points to his name.