“Hamilton Is the Benchmark” – Why George Russell’s Threat to Lewis Is Being Brushed Off

Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time world champion. Chasing his eighth title, which slipped out of his hands in the last race of the 2021 season. Lewis Hamilton, now 37 years old, would like to get his hands on the ultimate record before he retires. Or at least before his contract runs out with Mercedes in 2023.

Hamilton missed out on the title after Max Verstappen got his hands on it at the dying moments of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. But he would hope to avenge this as soon as possible.

Lewis Hamilton is on the wrong side of the table

Lewis Hamilton is a modern great with an incredible haul of seven world championship titles. The Mercedes man missed out on the title in the 2021 season. He missed out on the title similarly to then-teammate Nico Rosberg. But that did not stop Hamilton from repeating the feat the following season. However, because of an incredibly underwhelming car, Hamilton has lagged in the opening three races. Lewis’s teammate George Russell has amassed more points than the 2020 world champion. Russell sits on second whereas Lewis is fifth in the driver’s championship table.

This situation is an accumulation of a lot of factors, according to former motorsports racing driver, Marc Surer. Surer believes Hamilton is still an incredible driver but has been unlucky in the first three races. “I actually thought that he would have a harder time against Russell, especially in qualifying. But there’s not much missing, there’s hardly any difference between the two. And in the race, Hamilton is the benchmark, so I’m not worried about Lewis.” said Marc Surer.

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The Mercedes W13 is underwhelming and is facing multiple issues like porpoising. Hamilton is used to driving incredible machines with little to no problems in the past few years, according to Surer. The performance issues in the 2022 challenger is causing all the trouble. And that’s where George is gaining the advantage as he has driving experience with not-so-quick cars at Williams.

Can Lewis still fight for the championship?

Hamilton needs to beat his teammate first. And only then he can think about taking on Charles Leclerc and Ferrari. Currently sitting at 28 points, Hamilton is 43 points behind Charles. An uphill battle for Lewis if he wants to become a world champion.

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When asked if Mercedes will soon take a decision on the lead driver for the team, Surer expressed, “When they have the chance to become world champions. Before that, it doesn’t make any sense. You don’t know whether Russell might fail in the next race, and then it’ll look completely different again. It’s too much early to think about that.”

Age is just a number for Lewis, as he is still an incredible driver. In case Mercedes manages to give him a faster and more reliable car, Lewis will certainly make his charge for the world championship. Let’s just hope it isn’t too late for the Silver Arrows by them.