Damon Hill questions if Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will find themselves in an F1 title fight: “Elbows will get sharper”
Last season the Mercedes duo w🔯ere never in contention for the drivers’ cham♏pionship but, intriguingly, Russell claimed the team’s only grand prix victory in Brazil and outscored Hamilton over the season.
Should their new W14 machinery provide a platform to challenge the dominance of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Hamilton may find that another thꦯreat for race wins is coming from inside his own team.
“If Mercedes do get th🎃eir act together, the a๊ttention on Lewis and George is going to go into overdrive,” ex-F1 driver Hill said in the .
“❀Last season they neatly avoided any run-ins by virtue of being in the trenches together. But if they have a winning car, that is when things 🧸get serious.
“George is as mild-manne♊red and respectful as they come, but when the prize is so big, when it is that thing you have been working towards your entire life, elbows inevitably ge𓆉t sharper.
“If I was forced to back one of them, I’d probably plump for Lewis on the basis of his greater experience and the fact he appears to have his mojo back, especially if he sniffs a victory. He looks a🐼nd sounds in great shape.
“Certainly I think George 🌱would have to do something more than he did last yeaꦕr to get the better of his team-mate again. But it’s doubtful we have seen ‘peak George’ just yet.”
Hamilton, now 38, was forced into ಌtesting many of Mercedes’♛ upgrades in the early parts of 2022 as they battled awful problems with porpoising.
The seven-time world champi𒐪on failed to win a race for the first season in his esteemed career.
And he watched on as Russell claimed his first-ev♏er gran👍d prix victory at Interlagos.
A true battle between the Mercedes teammates never materialised last season but Hamilton is no stranger to competition from within his own ranks, having fought tooth-and-nail with 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Fernando Alonso, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Jenson Button, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Nico Rosberg and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Valtteri Bottas over his career.
The 2023 season begins this weekend at the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:F1 Bahrain Grand Prix.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, 🌸to football,⭕ to F1.
