How Has Lewis Hamilton Suddenly Rattled George Russell? Mercedes’ Mastermind Solves the Mystery in Detail

The unthinkable happened in 2022 as Lewis Hamilton lost to his teammate only for the second time in his career. What made this feat more incredible was that 2022 was George Russell‘s first season with Mercedes. However, despite his first-season heroics, the young Brit has fallen off the wagon in 2023. What has gotten into Russell? Is it the Lewis Hamilton effect? Has the old master somehow rattled the young padawan? Mercedes‘s expert gives insights into Russell’s subpar form in the current campaign.

Despite his retirements from promising positions in Australia and Canada, Russell is 49 points behind Hamilton after 12 races. Since the upgrades in Monaco, Russell has also out-qualified Hamilton once. Is it the upgrades? Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott gives some insight as reported by Motorsport-Total.

“I think these cars are difficult to drive,” he said. “They’re difficult to drive when they’re close to the ground. And it’s difficult to find the right balance in the corner. And it’s difficult to deal with the stiffness of the cars. George is a fantastic driver. I’m sure that George will get what he needs to get out of the car pretty quickly.”

“These cars want to be aerodynamically close to the ground, so if you run them close to the ground, you have to drive them stiff. And that’s one of the traps we fell into last year, if we’re being honest,” he concluded.

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So turns out Russell doesn’t like being too stiff and close to the ground. Sadly, for him, that is the case with the W14 at the moment. However, don’t discount the 25-year-old Mercedes man, as he is a brilliant and mature driver, which he has showcased on many occasions. Although he does need to pull up his socks if he needs to stay competitive.

Ralf Schumacher believes Lewis Hamilton has shifted the power dynamic at Mercedes after 2022

The old guard received a lot of criticism and recommendations to submit after the abysmal start to 2022. However, Hamilton kept at it and come out on the other side being his old self. Now that we’ve seen Hamilton take control of the Mercedes garage again, everyone is in the Brit’s favor.

However, this does not change the fact that Russell needs to pull up his socks to constantly perform alongside his teammate. The young Brit might’ve not found his 2022 form yet but according to Ralf Schumacher, he needs to, going forward.

Ralf Schumacher said, “Hamilton seems to adapt better to the new version of the W14 than Russell. He seemed relieved to feel again the pleasure of flying and the prospects for a more competitive horizon. He is optimistic and has never been so motivated to go for this eighth title. Russell will have to raise his level of play because Lewis is probably better than ever at 38. George will face an interesting challenge, but this emulation can also pull the whole team up.”

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Now there is a clear hierarchy at Mercedes and Russell needs to upset that to showcase himself as a serious championship contender. For now, though, he has to focus on winning against his teammate.