Lewis Hamilton suspicions raised as peculiar behaviour towards George Russell noted | F1 | Sport
A strange dynamic between Mercedes team-mates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell has been picked out by Tom Clarkson, who hosts the FIA’s press conferences. Russell has once again proven a worthy match for Hamilton so far this season, having finished ahead of the seven-time world champion in 2022.
Hamilton, who is hailed as one of the finest drivers in F1 history, has spent much of his career dominating team-mates. The five seasons he spent alongside Valtteri Bottas saw him rack up a string of world titles, although Russell has challenged the balance of power since stepping up from Williams.
Having beaten the 38-year-old in last season’s Drivers’ Championship, Russell kicked on to outqualify Hamilton in all three races so far this year. He trails in the points standings but that’s due, in part, to a frustrating DNF in Australia last time out.
Clarkson, who has had plenty of opportunities to observe the pair at close quarters as the FIA press conference host, spotted something intriguing in Melbourne that may suggest Hamilton is preparing for battle.
“In the press conference [in Australia], after qualifying, they’d qualified second and third in Melbourne. Max [Verstappen], of course on pole,” he told the F1 Nation podcast. “And every time a question was posed to both of the Mercedes drivers, Lewis was quite happy for George to answer the question.
“He almost became the spokesperson for the team in that press conference. And I was interested as to why Lewis was happy to just sit back and let that happen. I don’t know whether he’s sort of keeping his powder dry.
The current state of play in F1 means that Hamilton and Russell’s ongoing contest is unlikely to determine who wins the Drivers’ Championship, with Red Bull perhaps even more dominant this year than they were in 2022.
Russell did one-up his vastly more experienced team-mate last season by notching Mercedes’ only victory. Hamilton, meanwhile, has not added to his mammoth Grand Prix win tally since the 2021 season.
