George Russell Reveals How Lewis Hamilton’s Audacious Response to Abu Dhabi Failure Against Max Verstappen Saved His F1 Career

It is the controversial night of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. Championship contenders, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are level in the WDC. After a tough-fought battle between the two, George Russell wins! Wait a second, how’s that happened? Well, he didn’t exactly win there. But Russell believes that Hamilton’s decision-making after that humongous loss saved his F1 career.

The 7-time champion looked set to change that number to 8 and be the best driver that ever has been. But a controversial decision by then-race director, Michael Masi, turned the tables in Verstappen’s favor. After that bitter loss, Hamilton almost stopped talking in the media for a while and went incognito. Rumors of him retiring from the sport started rising. But eventually, he took the brave decision of staying and keep moving. And that response to the tough situation, according to George Russell, is what came as the saving grace for him in 2022.

Russell said, as quoted by Motorsport.Nextgen-Auto, “I’m realistic, I see the big picture and I recognize who my team-mate is. I joked with Lewis that staying in the sport after his disappointment in 2021 almost saved my career because (if) he had left after that, people would have pointed the finger at me for that underperforming car (the 2022 W13). The fact that he stayed, proved otherwise.”

He further added, saying, “It’s funny how the world works sometimes. In the end, someone else’s decision could have totally turned my career around for the worse. It’s pretty scary to think about.”

Read More: Lewis Hamilton’s Miserable past Acts as Saving Grace as George Russell Faces Identity Crisis

His F1 career might have saved but it is not exactly thriving. Mercedes are battling for survival at the top. To get a shot a being consistently victorious again, they are taking an unconventional route.

George Russell and Mercedes resort to copying the older generation of the Silver Arrows to make a comeback

2014 to 2020 was the turbo-hybrid era that entirely belonged to the Silver Arrows. Not one year did they settle for P2 in the Constructors’ championship. Cut to 2023, they have reduced their aim to finishing P2. In an attempt to go back to winning ways, they are referring to the design of the last generation of cars.

“We’re working really hard on the characteristics (of the car) for next year,” Russell told Speedcafe. “We’re looking a lot at the previous generation of cars from the Mercedes glory years, using that as a bit of inspiration. They were clearly some of the best cars in history, so that’s given us some pointers of where we need to try and aim for.”

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Do you think the Brackley outfit’s tactic of revisiting the technology that brought past successes will help them turn the tides in their favor?