“This is the next step in my journey” : George Russell ready to take the experienced role after Lewis Hamilton’s departure next season
Lewis Hamilton’s legendary run with the Silver Arrows is about to come to an end as he will be the main man for Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc. This makes George Russell an even more important figure in the Mercedes team dynamics, as he will essentially act as a mentor towards youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
For Russell, it will be big shoes to fill in as being the no.1 in the AMG Petronas, as Hamilton will be leaving with a legacy which most probably cannot be replicated. The British icon has won six of his seven world championships with the German team, and although Russell has been able to best him in qualifying sessions this year, he is still below 39-year-old Hamilton in the drivers’ rankings.
But Russell is not backing down from this challenge, and has revealed that he feels ‘ready in every way’ to lead Mercedes to a potential title year.
“This is the next step in my journey, I’ll have been in the team for four years and part of the Mercedes family for eight or nine years. I feel ready in every way to fight for the World Championship in 2025.” said the Briton (via Auto Motor und Sport).
“I also feel ready to be a little better together with the team every race and to help develop the car further. Next year we will build on what Lewis and I have sown over the last three years.” the 26-year-old added.
“I learned more in my first year alongside Lewis than in my three years at Williams” : George Russell
Before reaching global stardom with Mercedes, Russell was an up-and-coming driver with Williams, which were in a scuffle of their own that time. Replacing Valtteri Bottas in 2022, his first year with the German team did not go out as planned, with both him and Lewis Hamilton struggling due to the new ground-effect regulations set by Formula 1.
But Russell does not mind that, as he reflected that his past mistakes helped him into doing better next time, and that those lessons are the reason why he has come a long way. He also mentioned that newcomer Antonelli will now grow and learn things faster due to being in a much bigger team.
“When you’re thrown in at the deep end, you learn faster, from my experience I can say that I learned more in my first year alongside Lewis than in my three years at Williams. Every driver who has won championships in their career is fast. You can put him in a top team in his first year, like Lewis once did at McLaren.” the Silver Arrows driver revealed.
“I’m sure that Charles [Leclerc] at Ferrari or Max [Verstappen] at Red Bull would have done a good job in a smaller team even without the pre-season preparation. Maybe at the expense of one or two mistakes, but that’s part of it. Kimi will learn from this. You either have the speed or you don’t. Kimi has it.” Russell added.
F1 2025 is setting out to be one of the best in recent years, with new storylines and plots being made every day, and George Russell will definitely be one of the main protagonists of the season ahead of us.
