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 were never in contention for the drivers’ championship but, intriguingly, Russell claimeꦿ♊d the team’s only grand prix victory in Brazil and outscored Hamilton over the season.
Shou♛ld their new W14 machinery provide a platform to challenge the dominance of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Hamilton may find that another threat for race wins is coming from inside his own team.
“If Mercedes d🥃o get their act to💫gether, the attention 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,𓆏 that is when things get serious.
“George is as mild-mannered 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 get sharpe♍r.
“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,🐲 especiaღlly if he sniffs a victory. He looks and sounds in great shape.
“Certainly I think George would have to d✃o something more than he did last year to get the bet♏ter of his team-mate again. But it’s doubtful we have seen ‘peak George’ just yet.”
Hamilton, now 38, was forced into testing man𝄹y of Mercedes’ upgrades in the early parts of 2022 as they battled awful problems wi𒀰th porpoising.
The seven-time world champion failed to win a race for the first season in his es🦂teemeꦜd career.
And he watched on as Russe🔯ll claimed his first-ever grand 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 fro𝓡m American ꦏsports, to football, to F1.
