Russell On Comparison With Hamilton: 'Going Up Against The Greatest Driver Of All Time'

Sunday, 03 December 2023 at 08:00

Updated at Monday, 04 December 2023 at 09:14

Mercedes Formula One driver George Russell commented on the 2023 comparisons between himself and Lewis Hamilton.

British F1 driver George Russell showed great promise during his rookie season in Mercedes when he beat his teammate Lewis Hamilton by 35 points in the Drivers' Championship.

However, things have turned around during the 2023 season, and the seven-time World Champion has seemingly started finding his rhythm.

This time around, Hamilton finished 3rd in the Drivers' Championship in the 2023 season, while Russell finished in P8, separated by 59 points.

While points standings don't show it, two Mercedes drivers have been one of the most-matched teammates in qualifying, where their head-to-head result was 11 to 11. Russell told the Telegraph:

"I’ve been on Lewis’s level, on average, throughout this year. And I’m not satisfied with just being on his level. I want to be ahead of him. But I’ve also got to be realistic."

Read also

Sainz Admits Ferrari Was Overall Quicker Than Mercedes, Just Less Consistent

While Hamilton has had a few World Champions as teammates throughout his career, it is the second season for Russell that he is being compared to a World Champion. He said:

"I’m going up against the greatest driver of all time. He’s definitely not a bad benchmark. And, you know, I think quali statistics, if you include sprint races, we’re exactly the same. And pace-wise, we’re generally the same as well."

Russell has indeed been doing quite well in comparison to his teammate and might have also finished a lot higher in the Drivers' Championship, but he crashed twice during the Canadian and Singapore Grand Prix and had to retire the car. The Mercedes driver concluded:

"So there are positives. And to be honest I’d prefer to be sat here without the results, but with the pace. Rather than saying ‘Oh, we lucked into a result here or we lucked into a result there’ when actually I was a tenth or two off the pace."