Remember how Lewis Hamilton requested Mercedes and Toto Wolff to keep Valtteri Bottas as his wingman? The Silver Arrows decided otherwise and signed the hottest driver on the F1 market, George Russell as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate. Things haven’t been the smoothest at Mercedes since then and a repeat of the Hamilton-Rosberg 2016 saga seems inevitable. A Red Bull veteran has now come out to blame George Russell’s war as the reason behind the recent Mercedes disaster. But what did the veteran say?

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s tussle at the Japanese GP has been the talk of the town. The “Are we fighting each other?” message from Russell’s cockpit is still haunting the Mercedes crew. A foreseeable power struggle has started brewing between the Mercedes drivers. Amid all this, former Red Bull driver, David Coulthard advised as to how Russell’s attitude is becoming a thorn for Hamilton and led to the disaster at the Japanese GP.

David Coulthard opened up on George and Lewis fighting each other in Suzuka which allowed Carlos Sainz to catch up to them. The Red Bull veteran opened up on the fact that George Russell has been vocal about his demands from the team and isn’t ready to become the No.2 driver like Valtteri Bottas did. He then advised how Russell’s competitive attitude was going to sting Lewis Hamilton.

According to the Formula for Success podcast, Coulthard said, “Where would you sit on the fact that George has been pretty vocal during Grand Prix. You know, ‘Are we racing each other or are we trying to win this race’. I loved it when he was on the radio saying, ‘What can we do to win this Grand prix’. But he [George], it’s a bit of a thorn in the side of Lewis because he’s not the perfect wingman and he’s not going to go yes sir or no sir. He is a classic hungry race driver and that means Lewis is just an inconvenience to him.”

Toto Wolff and Mercedes knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed George Russell. There is going to be competition when a team has drivers as competitive as Mercedes does. However, an F1 pundit had a suggestion for the Silver Arrows regarding this situation.

Read More: “George Is… Quicker than Lewis”: Hamilton’s Achilles Heel Blamed for Problem at Mercedes as Russell Gets a Clean Chit

Former Ferrari Boss’ advice for Mercedes regarding the Lewis Hamilton and George Russell saga

Long before the Japanese GP Mercedes saga happened, many F1 pundits saw a fight between Hamilton and Russell incoming. After Russell beat Hamilton in the 2022 championship, Peter Windsor, earlier this year advised how Red Bull would never sign Rusell alongside Verstappen even if he was available. He then advised that there should’ve been a clause in Russell’s contract stopping him from finishing ahead of Hamilton. 

Peter Windsor, in Cameron F1’s YouTube video, said, “If I was now drafted in as team principal at Mercedes, I would say, ‘George, here’s the contract, it’s in two pieces now mate. If you want to keep driving no problem, sign on the dotted line here and you will never finish in front of Lewis Hamilton. Sorry”

The Hamilton-Russell tussle seems to be heating up quite a lot. With Mercedes hoping to get back to the front in 2024, things need to cool down or else it could be pandemonium at the Brackley team between the two Brits!

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