Fresh off 2 consecutive world championships, in 2007, Fernando Alonso was looking to make it 3. But this time, the scenario had changed at Renault. Replacing Giancarlo Fisichella was a young and highly talented rookie – Lewis Hamilton. The Briton’s performances threw Alonso off his guard, forcing him to quit the team in the same year. 16 years after that happening, the challenge that Hamilton posed to Alonso has now circled back to him in the form of George Russell contesting for being the top gun at Mercedes.

In the last decade, the only time a teammate has posed a challenge to Hamilton was Nico Rosberg in 2016. All other years, his might has been unfathomable. But in 2022, Russell came along with his unwavering focus that completely shook the 7-time champion’s world. His exploits got him labeled “Mr. Consistency”. Looking back on that challenge, Hamilton has taken on a fresh perspective to view it better.

“George had nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Hamilton told M4 Sport. “If he finished behind me they would say ‘well you finished behind a seven-time world champion’ and if he finished ahead then ‘you’re a legend’. I know exactly what that feeling was like and I had exactly the same with Fernando. If I finished behind him they would say ‘We expect that it’s your first year’ and if I finished ahead of him, I was great.”

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Though healthy intra-team competition helps in building camaraderie, can the driver pairing focus on more important challenges, like beating their rivals? For that, Hamilton already looks set. But in 2023, contrastingly, Russell has been inconsistent. Nevertheless, the Silver Arrows are backing him to make a comeback.

Mercedes CTO Mike Elliot supports George Russell to script an exceptional return

For someone who got nicknamed “Mr. Consistency”, George Russell‘s performances have been quite short of consistent. While his more experienced teammate has graced the podium a few times, he has yet to do so. To fast-track that progress, Mercedes Chief Technical Officer has encouraged him by lauding his skills.

“I think these cars are hard to drive and they’re running close to the ground,” said Elliott. “And it’s tricky to sort of find that right balance through the corner. It’s tricky to do [that] with the stiffness of the cars. George is a fantastic driver so I’m sure he’ll get what he needs to get out of the car fairly quickly.”

Will the 25-year-old be able to rise to the challenge at the Dutch GP this weekend? Or will Hamilton out-qualify him yet again?

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