The 2022 Formula 1 season started with all eyes fixated on the Mercedes garage. The team based out of Brackley hired a new recruit in the form of George Russell. The young Brit joined the eight-time constructor champions and Lewis Hamilton from Williams with high ambitions to compete at the top of the grid. And now, Russell has a few words to say about his teammate.

George joined forces with a seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton to complete the driver lineup at Mercedes. Despite an underperforming package, the W13, Russell has delivered a consistent stint of results this season. The 24-year-old is motivated and determined to deliver a turnaround for the German racing stable.

Heading into the home race for both Mercedes drivers, George used the example of successful tennis players to share his viewpoint about the benchmarks in a sport and praised Lewis Hamilton. He spoke on the Formula 1 podcast, Beyond The Grid, “I am the only driver on the grid who can share information with the greatest driver of all time and before the season started I thought about tennis.” (translated using Google)

“I saw Nadal win the Australian Open, I watched him play and I also thought about Federer and Djokovic. The three best tennis players in history, with three totally different ways of playing,” he added.

Russell is adamant on concentrating on his own driving style, rather than chasing the benchmark set by Lewis Hamilton. He elaborated on his goals by saying, “To be the best, you don’t have to copy the best, you have to make the best of yourself. Lewis is the best because he makes the most of everything he has. In tennis you have Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.”

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“But in the motor world there is only Lewis for now , so he made me think about what was best for me, as these three tennis players already did” he concluded. 

George Russell Draws Inspiration From Lewis Hamilton

Presently, in the driver’s world championship, George is in P4 and 34 points ahead of Lewis in P6. He has impressed everyone in the paddock by finishing each Grand Prix in 2022 in the top 5. On the other side of the garage, Hamilton is struggling to get on top of the Mercedes car and is pushing flat out to take the team back to winning ways.

The Brit shared the expectations set by him for the 2022 season by commenting “I had no expectations for this season, I just wanted to focus on myself, but I have always believed that I am capable of showing great potential after doing a few races and understanding the car well.”

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“Being behind the greatest driver of all time was not important for me , just like being on par or being ahead. The only thing I was going to do was focus on myself and get the most out of the car. It’s been a good start to the year” 

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George concluded by expanding on taking inspiration from Lewis as he said “If I had started badly I would have been less confident, but it’s never easy to change teams and have a driver who has been there for many years on the other side of the garage.”

“This is Lewis’ territory , he has been very successful, I never thought that would be easy. He has abilities that are very interesting for me, although I am not going to share them now”

The British Grand Prix is set to host the 10th round of the Formula 1 2022 championship. The home heroes on either side of the Mercedes garage would have that extra push this weekend, given that they would have the whole grand stand cheering for them.