“Why He Won Seven World Championships”: Despite a Major Handicap, Lewis Hamilton Backed to Put George Russell in His Place

Going back through the years, there’s been no other driver like Lewis Hamilton. While the seven world titles he’s amassed during his time in this sport are a testament to his driving talent, the sheer dominance of the 38-year-old with Mercedes is nothing short of legendary. Naturally, as soon as the young pretender, George Russell stepped in an started beating the 7x champion, people turned their backs on the Brit.

Russell has been comfortably out-pacing Hamilton in his year-and-a-half stint with the Silver Arrows. However, if anyone thinks that Hamilton is now the old dog, and Russell is here to usurp his throne, then David Coulthard has a few words of wisdom for you.

Blame for poor form is not for Lewis Hamilton to own

It’s not secret that Hamilton has not been operating at the level he used to during his dominant days with the Silver Arrows. While on the other hand, Russell has been taking the W14 to places it frankly doesn’t deserve. Strapped into equal machinery, Russell is outperforming Hamilton. Then why is Hamilton still the best driver on the grid, let alone in the Mercedes garage?

While speaking to Channel 4, 13x Grand Prix winner, Coulthard explained, “This is the best car that George has ever driven, remember he was at Williams, this is not the best car that Lewis has ever driven. His mind is in a different place, the car isn’t talking to him, playing to his strengths and you can see he is fighting it out there, it’s just not stable.”

The former British driver also believes it’s only a matter of time till Hamilton puts Russell back into his place despite the major handicap of not being in tune with the car.

“George is doing a brilliant job, [he is an] absolute asset for the team. That’s not to say Lewis isn’t doing a brilliant job, it just means that the car isn’t talking to him right now and when it does, expect him to be showing George why he won seven World Championships.”

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The biggest deficit Hamilton faces to Russell is in terms of one-lap pace. While he makes up for it in the race, Russell surely has the edge over the 38-year-old in this department.

Hamilton – Russell rivalry reeks of Senna v. Prost

From what we have witnessed so far, Hamilton disadvantages himself on a Saturday. Naturally, anything he does on Sunday then still keeps him behind his teammate. But while the ethos of the sport has changed since the days of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, Hamilton and Russell’s dynamic seems like a blast from the past.

According to F1 analyst Peter Windsor, “I think George is better than Lewis a little bit in the way that Senna was better than Prost in qualifying sometimes.Just incredibly fine, not judgement, but just taking it a little bit further.”

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Can Lewis Hamilton recover the gap to George Russell by the time the curtains fall on the 2023 F1 season?