Lewis Hamilton Puts Mercedes Civil War Rumors to Bed as Recent Social Media Antics Reveal Depth of His Bond With George Russell

War isn’t good for anyone, especially if it is within the team as it destroys everything and leaves nothing behind. The rumors of friction within Mercedes have been put to bed courtesy of a recent video that surfaced on Twitter and Instagram. The Video reveals how deeply the seven-time world champion is bonded with his teammate and how the friction rumored between the two doesn’t exist. Let’s find out what is in the video and how deeply Hamilton and Russell bond with each other.

Rumors of friction between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have been traveling across the paddock ever since Russell outperformed Hamilton. The 25-year-old finished 35 points ahead of his teammate during the 2022 F1 season. With Russell finding his feet at Mercedes, the battle has become even more intense. George Russell out-qualified the seven-time-world champion in all the races so far and would’ve been ahead in the driver’s standing had it not been for an engine failure at Albert Park.

Many F1 pundits including Nico Rosberg mentioned George Russell as the ultimate test for Lewis Hamilton with claims of the 25-year-old becoming the Mercedes No.1 if the 38-year-old doesn’t step up to the challenge. However, Lewis Hamilton loves a challenge and always steps up massively when he is pushed to the limit. A recent video posted by the Mercedes AMG F1 team on various social media platforms put the rumors of bad blood between the two Silver Arrow drivers to bed.

In the said clip, a random object is placed in a box and Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, and Mick Schumacher are guessing what’s inside the box. Hamilton’s first guess is Mr. Bean’s teddy bear whereas George Russell also guesses that it’s some sort of a teddy bear. However, the seven-time world champion correctly guesses “Teddy Bear of George” on his second try and bursts into joyful laughter. He went on to explain how the hair of the teddy felt like Russell’s. The 2-year-old also guesses the answer on his second try and asks if he can take the teddy home for his Nephew.

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The clip uploaded by Mercedes was part of a video uploaded on Youtube where all the Mercedes drivers guess various items inside a box. Hamilton’s joy after knowing that the teddy was George’s was incomparable and shows how well the 38-year-old knows his teammate and that the two drivers are on good terms. However, the seven-time world champion will still want to be Mercedes’ No.1 and has opted for a unique strategy to make it work.

Lewis Hamilton’s strategy to stop George Russell from dethroning him as the No.1 driver 

Lewis Hamilton does not want to lose his throne at Mercedes and is trying to trap George Russell into a false sense of security according to Tom Clarkson. The host of the F1 Nation podcast suggested that Hamilton let Russell answers all the questions on behalf of Mercedes after the 2023 Australian GP qualifying. This allows Russell to feel like he is the main man. And when it’s time for Lewis to strike the Hammer, The 2-yea old won’t see him coming.

According to F1maximaal.nl, Tom Clarkson said “With every question asked of Mercedes after qualifying, Hamilton loved to let Russell speak. Russell kind of became the spokesperson for the conversation and it was interesting to see Hamilton just kind of lounge around and allow it. I don’t know if it was a strategy, if he wanted to give Russell more confidence so he doesn’t see it coming if Hamilton suddenly strikes in the future, or if it was subconscious”

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What do you make of the video uploaded by Mercedes? Do you think the Russell-Hamilton bromance is for real?