After the Japanese GP, there were two things everyone was talking about. Well, three. One, Red Bull won its sixth Constructors’ Championship, and Max Verstappen hand-delivered it to his team. Two, McLaren secured a double podium, something that would’ve sounded absolutely absurd at the start of 2023. The third thing probably overshadowed both these achievements, which were monumental in their own ways. What was it? The Mercedes boys going against each other on track. Lewis Hamilton versus George Russell. W14 versus W14. A series of almost-collisions that could’ve gone terribly wrong for the team. But ultimately, it turned out okay. Well, as okay as being the talk of the town for the wrong reasons can be.

Since then, everyone’s been analyzing this budding rivalry that has the potential to blow up. Where does George Russell have the upper hand? Where does Hamilton have it? Turns out, Russell is, in fact, Mr. Saturday, and that’s where his advantage ends.

If Russell is Mr. Saturday, then Lewis Hamilton is Mr. Sunday

Following his lucky podium in Singapore, Hamilton reflected on his weekend. Especially on how Russell qualified second and he qualified fifth. Hamilton said, “I just made it really difficult for myself with a poor performance yesterday. Qualifying is a big weakness for me.” This coming from someone who’s usually made light work of his teammates on Saturday was shocking. But that’s where Russell is exploiting Hamilton. Before joining Mercedes, the young Brit was with Williams. Russell had this record of never being out-qualified by his teammate. Hence the name Mr. Saturday. This year, he’s pushing Hamilton to the limit, capitalizing on his teammate’s weakness.

Former Ferrari General Manager Peter Windsor discussed this disparity in his post-Japanese GP debrief. “I think George is probably a little quicker than Lewis around a lap now on most circuits. Not by much. By a fraction. Certainly in this car. Whether that would be the same in a brilliant championship-winning car, I don’t know. But in this car, I’d say George is a bit quicker around a lap, which is obviously very annoying for Lewis.” If you look at their qualifying head-to-head this season, it’s the most closely contested one. They’re 8 to 8.

When you look at their race results, though, that’s where things change. Windsor added, “Lewis, deep down, always knows that he’s a great racing driver. And that he will be able to get a lot out of the car when the variables start changing, and you’ve got to start massaging the car, the tires, whatever it is. Lewis will be doing that. Lewis has this ability to think on the last lap of the race as the lights go out. He’s a simple, brilliant racing driver.” Their race head-to-head? 12 to 4 in Hamilton’s favor. Yes, Russell may have the advantage on Saturday, but it isn’t enough to offset Hamilton’s Sunday pace.

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Russell may have occasionally shown signs of brilliance on Sunday, but Hamilton has done it consistently. After the Japanese GP, Russell has had to accept that he still has a long way to go in terms of race performances. But that wasn’t the only thing he had to accept.

George Russell is not the top dog at Mercedes

Russell may be the future of Mercedes, but until Hamilton is driving, there’s little chance that the young Brit will be favored over the seven-time champion. Hamilton has spent more than a decade in Mercedes. During that time, he’s won six championships and 82 races. He’s the top dog at Brackley, and Mercedes proved that at Suzuka. While Mercedes left Russell out to dry on track, it prioritized Hamilton. Russell was a sitting duck, and Hamilton got team orders in his favor. All this points to one thing, something Mercedes’ simulator driver Anthony Davidson clearly stated.

“There’s definitely a hierarchy in that team. And rightly so. You know, Lewis has earned that status in that team as a seven-time world champion, and George can’t argue against that. George is still the understudy, and he’s doing a very good job on those occasions where he’s got the speed over Lewis to really take the fight to him. But he’s doing it in such a George Russell polite way, which is quite humorous to watch because I know inside the car, he’ll be fuming and steaming,” said Davidson.

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Do you think George Russell can ever match up to the race prowess Lewis Hamilton has?