Lewis Hamilton is 'no longer top dog' in Mercedes or F1 with George Russell's presence, says former F1 team owner

Lewis Hamilton is no longer the "top dog" in F1. This is the view of former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan. According to EJ, as Jordan is known, the introduction of George Russell has been a game-changer at Mercedes as Hamilton has somewhat struggled against his new teammate.

When questioned if Russell has proven his worth at Mercedes, EJ emphatically replied, saying:

“Absolutely, I think the big surprise is, everybody globally, in Formula 1 context, thinks that Lewis Hamilton is top dog. But he’s no longer top dog, not even in that team because [George] Russell has taken his perch away. And I think it’s very interesting to watch and I want to see how Lewis is going to overcome that.”

After seven races of the season, Lewis Hamilton trails his teammate by 34 points and has not finished ahead of him since the first race of the season.

Earlier, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was questioned on how he feels about reports suggesting that Russell has overthrown Hamilton at Mercedes. The Austrian replied that he couldn't help but smile at those suggestions.

Wolff said:

“I hardly follow it [the reports]. And when I pick up one or two remarks, I can only smile about them. George is doing a good job, but that’s exactly what we expected of him, that’s why he’s with Mercedes.”

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Lewis Hamilton is still the king in terms of race pace: Juan Pablo Montoya

Former McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya feels that, while George Russell seems to have the edge on one-lap pace, Lewis Hamilton still holds the edge in race pace, as with Valtteri Bottas in previous seasons. Suggesting that George Russell still needs to learn that part of the game, the Colombian said:

“I think George, on one-lap pace, is doing a much better job than Lewis – he’s getting more out of the car on one lap. When Lewis is on his A-game, he’s hard. I think George can do a job on one lap but he’s got a lot to learn from Lewis on race pace. Same as when Valtteri [Bottas] was there, the pace of Lewis in the races was incredible.”

For now, though, Hamilton has a lot of work to do in terms of catching up to his teammate. Russell has been a revelation for the team with his consistency in every race.