By 2025, George Russell has emerged as the leading figure at Mercedes. After spending three years in the shadow of Lewis Hamilton, it’s now up to the 27-year-old Brit to lead the once highly successful Formula 1 team. Although Russell has only recently inherited the leadership role, he has already outperformed his award-winning teammate in previous seasons. Twice, Russell finished above Hamilton in the championship. This, in part, contributes to his regret over unfortunate timing.
Russell was promoted to the Mercedes team in 2022. After several preparatory years at Williams, he was allowed to move up to the Silberpfeile with the introduction of new regulations. There, he joined Lewis Hamilton, whom he managed to beat in his debut year for the team. In 2023, he finished below his celebrated teammate, but in 2024, he again amassed the most points for Mercedes.
Russell’s Late Arrival
In an interview with The Athletic, Russell reflected on the seasons alongside Lewis Hamilton. “It’s not easy being a teammate of a seven-time world champion for three years,” he explained. “There was a time when you won the race if you finished ahead of Lewis (Hamilton). And if you finished ahead of him in the championship, it meant you had won the title.” In this respect, Russell arrived at the team just a bit too late. Since the introduction of the so-called ground effect regulations, Mercedes has only won four races and has not finished higher than second place in the championship.
Russell is all too aware that he joined Mercedes just a tad too late. “If I had come to the team five years earlier, you could say I might have had two titles,” he concluded his story. In the current season, the Brit can redeem himself. For now, Mercedes seems to have a reasonably competitive car, and Russell is off to the best season start of his career. In five Grand Prix, he has already made it to the podium three times and scored 73 World Championship points – good for fourth place in the championship.
