Lewis Hamilton told George Russell is ‘better’ than Mercedes teammate in 1 area

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Jacques Villeneuve has now named the one area George Russell is ‘better’ than Lewis Hamilton and may see the Mercedes driver record another winless Formula 1 season.

It has now been 44 races since Hamilton last won a Grand Prix at the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. The 38-year-old had won at least one race in each of his first 15 seasons in Formula 1. But a second winless campaign likely awaits the seven-time champion ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP.

Mercedes have fallen from their perch as Formula 1’s benchmark team since F1 returned to ground-effect cars in 2022. Their ill-fated desire to pursue a no-sidepod concept, ultimately, backfired. But the Brackley-based team’s switch in concept this season would come too late.

Hamilton leads Russell by 72 points in the drivers’ championship

Red Bull have dominated the constructors’ championship this year with 822 points ahead of the season finale. Mercedes may sit second in the standings through 21 rounds. But they are a massive 430 points off Red Bull. Their 392 points are also just four more than Ferrari’s 388.

Hamilton, too, may have third in the drivers’ championship with 232 points with Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso locked in fourth with 200. But Max Verstappen sits atop the table with 549 points, more than double that of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez (273) in second place.

McLaren’s Lando Norris (195) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (188) will also end 2023 ahead of Russell (160). The Mercedes pilot is guaranteed to finish this season in eighth in the drivers’ championship. He can still help the Silver Arrows beat Ferrari to second in the constructors’.

Villeneuve outlines the one area Russell is better than Hamilton

Villeneuve believes one of the reasons why Hamilton faces a second winless season in F1 is that the Mercedes driver became too used to the Silver Arrows’ dominance. He claimed the title in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 with 11, 10, nine, 11, 11 and 11 wins each year.

Now, though, Villeneuve senses Hamilton is struggling to dig deep and find the last tenth of a second, unlike Russell. The 1997 F1 champion claims the 25-year-old still has the hunger to get everything from his car. Russell joined Mercedes for the 2022 season as they regressed.

“It is a very peaky car with a very small window of operation and it is pretty hard to set up,” Villeneuve explained about Mercedes’ 2023 F1 car, via quotes by RacingNews365. “George seems to be better at that than Lewis, who spent so many years with an easy car to drive.

“He had more horsepower than the rest of the grid and even if they didn’t have the right set-up or right strategy, they’d still win. When you have to go back to find that last tenth, you’re not used to it anymore and you need to get the ball rolling.”