Russell: Teammate to Hamilton a golden opportunity and much more

After his three-year F1 induction at Williams with hapless Nicholas Latifi as his teammate, last year Russell found himself in the hottest seat in the sport and with it came sharing the Mercedes garage with one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, which Hamilton certainly is.

This alone may have intimidated or overawed most drivers or fired them up to challenge Sir Lewis, but Russell has smartly sidestepped any potential conflict with his illustrious, and vastly more experienced teammate. Knowing his time will come, cherishing the opportunity while positively sponging off the unique leg of his journey in the top flight.

In an in-depth interview with Square Mile, Russell explained the Hamilton-effect: "For me, being teammates with Lewis is such a golden opportunity. Especially now that the car isn’t performing as we want, having him as my teammate has saved me in some regard because if he had retired or left the sport when I joined the team, and we took this step backwards, people would be pointing the blame towards me!

"But I feel like now I’ve proven my worth and I’ve proven what I’m capable of, so there’s no pressure in that regard. I’m out there to do the best job possible and I think that is a very fortunate position to be in. I’m not worried about any statistics or making sure that I’m on Lewis’s pace or whatever.

"I feel like I showed that last year, there’s already been two races this year and I qualified ahead both times, and the pace was very close between the two of us in the race. What a position to be in to go up against the greatest ever."

Asked what stands out in his partnership with Hamilton, Russell ventured: "He’s a very good people person. He’s very good at getting the most out of the people around him and motivating the team. He’s very resilient, he’s always pushing himself further. And he has a lot of hobbies as well away from the sport, which I think is really interesting because it allowed him to take his mind away from the racing and to be in a better head space for when he comes back.

"We’re obviously at very different stages of our career, but I’m definitely taking inspiration from how he conducts himself, how he approaches his racing and how he approaches his life. He’s very impressive," observed Russell, whose 85 Grand Prix starts to compare to Hamilton who has 313 starts to his credit, plus just about every record in F1, including 103 poles and the same number of victories.

To win the F1 Championship Russell has to beat Hamilton, at Mercedes that is a sensitive and uncommon problem they don't have at the moment; notably, Lewis has only ever been beaten at Mercedes by Nico Rosberg in 2016, and of course last year Russell did so too.

To not rock the boat, Russell's subtle but effective diplomatic skills, coupled with self-imposed, and disciplined patience plus restraint will see him through the remainder of Hamilton's career without conflict as eventually, the King will have to make way for the Prince. Time marches on no matter who you are.

That patience is part of his own 'skill-set' hints Russell, citing double F1 World Champion and the benchmark of this generation of F1 drivers - Max Verstappen - but one that may not have the tact required, to balance his raw speed, will to win and aggression while not upsetting the delicate Mercedes-Hamilton applecart, had the Red Bull driver been in similar circumstances early in his career.

Russell ventured: "For example, Max Verstappen obviously got his promotion after 18 months, but perhaps if he went into a team like Mercedes against Lewis Hamilton at the peak of his powers, it could have damaged his career.

"So you’ve got to look at it from both sides and for sure Max was a greater driver, after three or four years under his belt, compared to where he was after 18 months under his belt. If you’re going up against a guy who’s absolutely in his prime and dominating in the car that he’s so used to, maybe he wouldn’t be in the position he is today."

What's Russell's secret? He attributes his success to his personal network for overcoming the unique challenges and polemics that come with being Hamilton's teammate: "I’ve got to be grateful for the people who have advised me and helped me and nurtured me to this position.

"In those three years that passed by, perhaps I could have been fighting a bit higher up the grid, but if I wasn’t in a Mercedes, I wouldn’t have been fighting for championships.

"So what’s the difference for me? At the end of the day, I want to win championships and if I was at the back of the grid or let’s say if I was fighting for top sevens, to be honest, there’s no difference. Ultimately, I’m happy with where I am right now," insisted Russell.

Heading to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next, Round 4 of the 2023 F1 World Championship, Hamilton is fourth in the standings with 38 points, 31 points behind leader Verstappen but 20 up on Russell in seventh, as Mercedes have struggled to find the required pace in the first three races of the season.