Being teammates with Lewis Hamilton isn’t really something to be excited about. Just ask Valtteri Bottas. That being said, for George Russell, his very first year with the Silver Arrows was nothing short of a dream. Granted, the team did drop the ball this time around with the new technical regulations. However, Russell consistently fought at the sharper end of the field, bagging a bevy of podiums and that elusive 1st Grand Prix win. The cherry on the cake, however, was him beating the 7x champion over the course of the season in equal machinery.

That should’ve been all the validation and motivation the Brit would’ve required to soldier on into his sophomore year at Mercedes. But racing drivers are relentless beasts, and Russell wouldn’t give up without making Hamilton say the exact words he wanted to hear!

During the ‘End of the Year Q&A’ for sponsor Petronas, both Hamilton and Russell sat down to ask each other questions sent in by the fans. Russell was keen to take full advantage of this opportunity to trick Hamilton into spilling the beans about how the 7x champ felt about him.

While seemingly reading from the card, Russell asked Hamilton, “What traits do you admire most in your team-mate?”. After a brief pause, the duo burst into a laugh. Hamilton then chimed in, “It’s your first year. You’re losing it!”

The 24-year-old then explained, “No, that wasn’t the question. It says, what traits do you admire most in others.”

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On the face of it, Russell’s first year with Mercedes should spell danger for Lewis Hamilton. However, his loss to Russell last year may have a deeper cause than you’d think.

Lewis Hamilton sacrificed 2022 for Mercedes’ sake

Lewis Hamilton is a bona fide Mercedes man. After all, after 1o years together and 6 drivers’ titles, who wouldn’t? People may think that after George Russell beat Hamilton last year, the allegiances within the team may have shifted. But was Russell’s victory really as ‘fair & square’ as we think?

In an interview with the BBC, Hamilton revealed, “The whole idea of performing at your best and getting the best result each weekend; of course that would be nice, but I was really about problem solving: ‘I will sacrifice this session or all the sessions to be able to find more data and information for you.'”

“[This is] so that when we go back to the factory they’ve [team] got a better understanding of what’s going on.’ But it ultimately hindered some of the weekends,” concluded Hamilton as a possible reason for him being outdone by teammate Russell in the final standings.

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Will Lewis Hamilton make a comeback in 2023? Or will this be the second consecutive year he will be beated by his teammate?