"That's just absolutely not going to happen" - George Russell knows he can't beat Lewis Hamilton every single session

Despite coming off a season where he finished above his teammate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, George Russell is realistic about his chances against Hamilton in the future.

Speaking to The Race about his battle with his teammates, Russell stressed the importance of tempering his expectations when it came to competing with Hamilton.

"I didn't worry, but I did have to sort of have a sitdown with myself," he said. "I was sort of used to a certain level of outscoring [past teammates], or whatever you want to call it, but if it's 55/45 in my favour, even if I lose 45 per cent of the time, that's going to still be incredibly successful against Lewis. So psychologically, you need to set yourself up for small failures."

Russell also acknowledged that it would be impossible for him to beat Hamilton every session.

"I'm not going to beat him every single session, every qualifying, every race," he said. "That's just absolutely not going to happen. But having a year like we've had this year, is almost equivalent to maybe what the 95/5 split was for me previously. I never doubted myself. I always believed in myself. But if you go with the mindset 'I'm going to beat Lewis Hamilton 95 per cent of the time', you're going to come away disappointed."

According to Russell, approaching every weekend thinking he could beat Hamilton would lead to constant disappointments. However, the 24-year-old reckons his record of beating his teammates by a small margin was something he could continue to achieve.

The Mercedes driver revealed that believing in himself and not doubting his abilities was the approach that had helped him beat the seven-time world champion. Russell finished fourth in the drivers' standings, 35 points ahead of Hamilton, who finished in sixth place.

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George Russell reckons he is ready to fight for championships

Despite having only one win in his F1 career so far, George Russell feels he has the experience and the qualities to be able to fight for a championship in 2023. He believes he is ready to join Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in the fight up front.

Looking forward to the upcoming season, George Russell spoke about his title chances. He said:

“Every race I go to, I fight to do the best job possible, whether that is fighting for a victory as we were in Brazil, or fighting for last place as we were at Williams. If we do get to the first race next year, and we realise we've got a car that's capable of winning, I'm still going to be approaching it exactly the same. I think I've got enough experience now that I feel ready to fight for a championship and be able to handle the challenges and difficulties that come with it. Obviously, the likes of Lewis and Max [Verstappen] have more experience in that scenario. But if you go out and you put it on pole and win every race, you'll be World Champion.”

While acknowledging that he lacks the experience of Verstappen and Hamilton, George Russell stated that he feels he can claim pole positions and wins every weekend with the right car.