Felipe Massa backs George Russell to emerge as main Mercedes title threat over Lewis Hamilton.
Felipe Massa has said that, while Lewis Hamilton can never be written off in fighting for a title, Mercedes team-mate George Russell has potential to carry the team’s hopes in future.
27 Mar 2023 4:00 PM
Henry Valantine
PlanetF1.com

“You should never make the mistake of writing Lewis off. Alongside Michael [Schumacher] and Ayrton Senna, he is the best driver who has ever raced in Formula 1,” Massa reasoned to Bild.

“In addition to his experience, he has a very good feel for driving. Lewis can become World Champion again – but for that he needs a competitive car. He doesn’t have that at the moment.”

“Charles [Leclerc], like Max and Lewis, is an exceptional driver. He is currently the biggest title challenger for Red Bull. Their second driver, Sergio Pérez, is too inconsistent. Just like Carlos Sainz from Ferrari. George Russell could become a title contender in the coming years.”

‘George Russell has potential’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/felipe...ewis-hamilton/


Rosberg: Russell is the ‘ultimate test’ for Hamilton
13:45 Mon, 27 Mar 2023.
by Fergal Walsh
Motorsport Week

“George is the ultimate test, he is a future World Champion,” Rosberg told Sky F1. “It is difficult for Lewis to stay in front. George had an awesome season last year and that is continuing. Let’s not forget, Lewis is the best of all time, so if someone can beat George it is him.”

“It is a little bit of a weakness that Lewis has that he will mentally go into this down a little bit and lose a little bit of the flow. But he comes back with a bang every single time so, dear George, don’t get too confident there.”

‘Ultimate test’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/...-for-hamilton/


F1: Nico Rosberg sends Lewis Hamilton warning over George Russell
16:37 Tue, 28 Mar 2023.
By George Dagless
Give Me Sport

Russell has quickly established himself as one of the top drivers since his Mercedes move. 2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg has warned Lewis Hamilton that George Russell is 'the ultimate test' at Mercedes.

Certainly, Russell has shown he is more than at home at the front of the pack, with him winning his first Grand Prix last season in Brazil and also outscoring his seven-time world champion team-mate in the standings.

"Testament to the weekend George has done. Interesting that there is different set-ups, but free choice for both of them," Rosberg said to Sky Sports after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which saw Russell eventually classified fourth and Hamilton in fifth.

‘More than at home at the front of the pack’;

https://www.givemesport.com/f1-nico-...eorge-russell/


Where Hamilton’s currently losing out to Russell
Mar 28 2023
By Edd Straw
The Race

Lewis Hamilton is the better-placed of Mercedes’ Formula 1 drivers in the world championship going into this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, by two points over George Russell. And the team is fresh from a better-than-expected result in the Saudi Arabian GP, where both cars came home in the top five and beat Ferrari.

So why are the problems with this car affecting Hamilton more than Russell? The qualifying gap was negligible at Sakhir, but it was far more substantial at the Jeddah circuit, where Hamilton was just over three-and-a-half tenths of a second slower. The difference was primarily in the first sector, in which Hamilton struggled with balance and grip.

Hamilton cut a dejected figure after qualifying. Speaking to media including The Race shortly after Q3, he complained of not feeling connected to the car and said that “no matter what I do, no matter what I change, I can’t get confidence back”. So why is this? Well, we know the Mercedes is lacking in downforce and that is particularly manifesting itself in rear-end instability.

‘I can’t get confidence back’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/merce...ut-to-russell/


George Russell labelled ‘worst aspect’ of Lewis Hamilton’s weekend
Lewis Hamilton started the race on the hard compound tyres in an effort to have a long first stint but his race was hurt by an early safety car around lap 18.
27 March 2023
by Edward Hardy
Formula1News

Peter Windsor, former Williams team manager, blasted the choice of tyres by Mercedes as “asking for trouble” by going against the rest of the grid. “The medium was a really good race tyre in Saudi Arabia and to be on anything other than that at the start of the race was asking for trouble,” Windsor explained on his YouTube channel.

“Toto was on the radio afterwards telling Lewis that it was a good drive, and of course it was a good drive, but it wasn’t the sort of drive that Hamilton will want to be thinking about on his flight home,” he added.

“He doesn’t want to be passed by Max Verstappen as if he’s going backwards. He doesn’t want to be racing Haas and Alpha Tauri. In the end, he got beaten by George [Russell], which is probably the worst aspect of the weekend. Not a good one for Lewis,” Windsor continued.

‘Worst aspect’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/george-ru...ltons-weekend/


George Russell teases first key destination for Mercedes W14 updates
25 Mar 2023 10:00 AM
Henry Valantine

George Russell has hinted that the first significant upgrade package on the Mercedes W14 will arrive at Imola in mid-May, as the so-called European season gets underway in earnest.

“Maybe they will come to Imola,” Russell told reporters in Saudi Arabia of where the first significant upgrade package for Mercedes will come, per the Italian edition of Motorsport.com. “Maybe it can be done a little earlier, but I think you are always a little cautious about taking things to a street track.”

“We just have to weigh up the options. With the mistakes we’ve made, we’re not going to rush things unless we’re absolutely 120 per cent sure it’s the right one. And obviously, the longer you wait, the greater the impact you can have because of the slope of development, so we have to weigh up the pros and cons.”

‘Mercedes W14 updates’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/george...-w14-upgrades/


Hamilton won’t be Mercedes’ lead driver until F1 car changes
Mar 22 2023
By Matt Beer and Scott Mitchell-Malm
The Race

With Mercedes so far away from race-winning, let alone title-contending, form and Lewis Hamilton not having a 2024 Formula 1 contract yet, ‘Hamilton mood watch’ would be a popular pastime even without him being as – relatively – outspoken about the team’s efforts as he has been lately.

He’s also not even been the team’s top performer. Yes, he led George Russell home in Bahrain, but it’s 2-0 to Russell in the qualifying battle (the Saturday gap nearly four tenths of a second in Saudi Arabia last weekend) and Russell finished ahead on race day in Jeddah too.

There was a degree to which Hamilton said the disparity between him and Russell was just down to set-up choices, and Hamilton certainly did seem to go awry on that front relative to his team-mate.

‘Until F1 car changes’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/hamil...1-car-changes/