Russell Shares His Biggest Lesson As Hamilton's Teammate

Sunday, 15 December 2024 at 16:00

George Russell shared the biggest lesson that he will be taking away after driving alongside Lewis Hamilton for three seasons.

The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was Lewis Hamilton's final race with Mercedes and as a teammate to George Russell, who will be taking his position of the team leader.

Although Russell joined Mercedes as still a relatively inexperienced driver (after three seasons in Williams), the 26-year-old was able to go toe-to-toe with the seven-time world champion.

He had the chance to observe how Hamilton behaves in all situations, in times of joy and disappointment, in front of the media, and around the team.

When asked what he will remember the most and what he will take away after the 3 years of collaboration with the Mercedes star, Russell replied:

"I think just actually seeing first-hand what a role model he is. I sort of recognize from Lewis that we've all got this platform, and we have to use it correctly."

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"And that's become even more apparent to me when my young niece and nephews are watching TikTok and YouTube and Netflix."

Over the years, Hamilton has used his platform to support numerous positive initiatives, such as Mission 44 (his charity working towards a fairer and more inclusive future), helping women get into motorsport (through the F1 academy, for example), racial and gender equality, and more.

"How you deal with the victories, how you deal with the losses – you inspire the young kids. Also this weekend, when I look back to that photo I had of Lewis and I when I was a kid, I looked up at him the same way as all these kids look up to us."

"So, I think that's been probably the biggest life lesson that I've learned from him: sometimes, even if you want to really express something that's got hundreds of millions of people watching, the way you do it is super important."