George Russell disagrees with David Coulthard’s assessment of Lewis Hamilton’s dedication to Mercedes in his final season before he signs with Ferrari.
In support of Lewis Hamilton, George Russell took offense at rumors that his teammate had checked out mentally at Mercedes before he was set to leave.
At the end of the season, Hamilton, a seven-time F1 champion, will join Ferrari and depart the Silver Arrows. However, having only eight points from his first three races, he has had a miserable start to his final season with his longtime employers.
Russell has performed better, having accumulated 18 points, but he lost the opportunity to overtake his fellow British driver when he crashed late in the Australian Grand Prix last weekend. There has been some criticism of Hamilton’s lack of competitiveness in comparison.
Among those offering their opinions was David Coulthard, who stated: “He’s just not been comfortable with this car and you can tell that George is just improving the lap time at this point and you can sense that Lewis is behind.”
“What is certain, though, is that he will deliver if he can find a window of opportunity to perform. However, it appears that he has already made the mental decision to travel to Ferrari at this point.”
However, Russell maintains that he has not observed anything that would indicate Hamilton is not giving it his all while they work together. “I think Lewis has been incredibly professional with the team and the working relationship with everybody within Mercedes is like nothing has changed whatsoever,” the 26-year-old stated in response to the news.
And what a fantastic team they are. We both now have equal opportunities thanks to them. That has been the case from the beginning. Additionally, whenever improvements are made to the vehicle, they will affect both of us simultaneously, as opposed to other teams who do things one at a time.
And at Mercedes, that’s the standard procedure. They want to give both drivers the best opportunity to produce the best results, and regardless of my teammate for the upcoming season, that will remain the same.”
Russell committed to the Silver Arrows through the end of the 2025 season, and Toto Wolff, the team’s principal, has given the Briton the go-ahead to guide the group into what comes after Hamilton. But it’s still unclear who Russell will team up with starting in 2019.
Wolff rates teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli highly, and this year he will go through a demanding testing program to determine if he is prepared to move up to Formula One. If not, Fernando Alonso, a more seasoned candidate, might be added to the seat to hold it until the Italian actress is judged ready.
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