George Russell has silenced any suggestion that himself and Lewis Hamilton could be involved in a Hamilton/Nico Rosberg-style rivalry in the forthcoming season, with many predicting that the Mercedes duo will be amongst the title fight.
The former Williams driver was excellent in 2022, with the Brit having remarkably become just the third team-mate of Hamilton’s to beat him in the Drivers’ Championship.
2016 World Champion Rosberg is one of the others to have done so, with himself and the seven-time World Champion having developed a bitter feud.
The pair completely fell-out during their time at Mercedes together, something that is predicted to happen to Russell and Hamilton.
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Russell, though, puts Hamilton’s issues with former team-mates down to a smaller “age difference”, something there certainly isn’t between the two current Mercedes drivers.
“If there were problems between the drivers in the past, maybe it was because the age difference was smaller and there was fighting for the lead in the team,” Russell said.
“We don’t have that. If the good relationship with Lewis broke down, we would be start to hurt over time and not help the team.”
The duo on the whole worked together very well last season, as the Brackley-based team tried to make the most of the ‘diva’ W13.
A title challenger is expected to be at their disposal this year, though, something which will put their relationship to the test.
Hamilton will also likely be determined to avoid being beaten by Russell again, given how few drivers have ever beaten the 38-year-old consistently.
Interestingly, though, beating Hamilton isn’t how Russell remembers the 2022 season, with his number one memory being winning the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“For me, that victory in Brazil was more important than the points classification,” he told Auto, Motor und Sport.
“At the end of the day, nobody remembers that I beat Lewis on points. I only finished fourth, so no man’s land.”
He’ll be pushing for considerably higher than fourth in the forthcoming season, with recent reports stating that Mercedes have supposedly discovered more power in their power unit.
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With the team likely to have a strong package, then, the 24-year-old is adamant that himself and Hamilton can “take the team further”, by continuing to work together.
“Lewis and I work well because we know that together we can take the team further than going against each other,” added Russell.
“We know that we are building a car that will be faster than last year’s car. I’m also sure that we will improve compared to last year. But we don’t know what everyone else did – and that’s the problem, it’s a relative game.”