F1 News: George Russell On His First Year Beside Lewis Hamilton - "Unique Character"

George Russell reflects on working alongside Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes' newest driver George Russell, who had his first year with the team in 2022, has revealed what he has learnt driving alongside seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

Russell signed with Mercedes when Valtteri Bottas moved from the team to Alfa Romeo, and has now spoken about how "inspiring" Hamilton is. During an appearance on The High Performance Podcast, Russell explained:

"Lewis is an incredibly unique character. I think he's incredibly inspiring with all of his activities and projects he has off-circuit.

"When you look at drivers from the past who are just pure racing drivers, [who think] 'I'm going to wake up living and breathing this sport', he does things so differently to so many other people, yet has still had so much success along the way."

The British driver continued, comparing the seven-time champion to icons of other sports, such as tennis. He added:

"When I look at [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal and [Novak] Djokovic, these are three greats of the sport.

"Statistically, they've all basically achieved exactly the same achievements, yet they have three totally different ways of playing. I'm sure they train differently.

"When you watch them, they look different. When you see them on court, they excel on different courts or playing fields, yet they're three greats.

Russell, who proved his spot on the team in 2022 taking his first win at the Brazilian GP, concluded:

"I think the thing I take away from that, and also what I take away from Lewis, is that there is no one path to success. I think you need to find your own path, your own journey.

"You need to have that self belief that, even if somebody is going down a certain path, you need to follow your own course and you need to do what is best for you."

Russell was branded as "Mr. Consistency" in 2022 for coming in the top five race after race in the first half of the year. He came fourth in the driver's championship, so many Mercedes fans are excited to see Russell driving alongside Hamilton again when the 2023 season kicks off with the Bahrain GP on 3rd - 5th March.