© Sam Bloxham for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
George Russell is aware that he is “going up against the greatest driver of all time” in Lewis Hamilton, but he still wants “to be ahead of him”.
George Russell joined Mercedes with a bang back in 2022. Although Lewis Hamilton was, by the team’s own admission, tasked with helping the team figure out their troubled car in the first half of the year, it was nevertheless impressive that George ultimately finished the season ahead of his more experienced team-mate.
In 2023, however, Lewis was back in his groove and he finished the season 59 points ahead of George. While discussing his performance in 2023, George said he is aware what a hard task it is to beat a driver like Lewis.
“I’ve been on Lewis’s level, on average, throughout this year,” George told The Telegraph.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
“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. 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. 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,” Russell concluded.
