Ralf Schumacher urges George Russell to do what Lewis Hamilton hated at Mercedes for F1 bounce-back

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Ralf Schumacher has urged George Russell to do something Lewis Hamilton used to hate at Mercedes in order to get back onto “equal footing” with his high-flying teammate Kimi Antonelli.

The Briton’s retirement at turn five during Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix marked his third score-less finish of the term, with Antonelli managing to do maximum damage in the F1 standings by taking victory at Spa and bolstering his championship lead.

It’s clear that Russell now needs to produce something special in order to shift the momentum away from his less experienced teammate and back into his own corner.

Ralf Schumacher thinks the simulator might be the best thing for him, but Lewis Hamilton has already made his feelings clear on utilising that specific tool at Mercedes’ Brackley HQ.

• READ MORE: Jolyon Palmer fears Lewis Hamilton’s driving style is ‘badly correlated’ with Ferrari simulator

Ralf Schumacher urges George Russell to ‘get back into the simulator’

During the height of his woes at Ferrari last year, Hamilton was blasted for his lack of simulator work at Maranello. Schumacher was actually a staunch critic of the seven-time world champion, referencing his own brother’s hard-working tendencies as a prime example.

In fact, Hamilton’s return to form with Ferrari in the early stages of the 2026 campaign is understood to be because he turned away from simulator work. He revealed this at the Canadian GP, before securing a career-best result for Ferrari at the time.

Speaking via the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, the German F1 pundit was asked for his thoughts on Russell’s explosive radio messages to the Mercedes pit wall after his DNF, and whether it has affected his relationship with Toto Wolff and co.

“I don’t think that changes anything at all in terms of the relationship,” Schumacher said. “George Russell obviously needs to get back on equal footing with his team-mate first. He knows that himself. Ultimately, it’s up to him, his engineer or his side of the team to deliver.

“There are no excuses, after all. Unless they come up with something now, which I don’t believe they will. These days, with all the data available, I can’t imagine that the car is inferior in any way.”

Schumacher then highlighted his belief that clocking in some hours on Mercedes’ simulator and copying Antonelli where he can would be beneficial for him.

• READ MORE: George Russell was ‘at a loss for words’ over one question after Belgian Grand Prix DNF

“He really needs to sit down now, get back into the simulator, and there’s nothing else he can do but try to copy his team-mate, so to speak, and he has to practise that in the simulator until it becomes second nature,” he continued.

“I think he’s already trying to do that, but there are simply certain regulations that don’t really work in a driver’s favour, and I think that’s the problem he’s facing right now.

“I’m curious to see whether he’ll be able to get out of this, whether he’ll really be able to get back to that level.”