Lewis Hamilton asked about George Russell’s performance: “Nothing to do with me…”
Russell was briefly promoted to a podium-finish du🥀e to the chaos around Fernando Alonso’s 10-second penalty, before it was rescinded and the Aston Martin took back the P3 that he earned on-track.
But, P4 for Russell coupled with a decent qualifying stint (he started from third) re🐈presented a small step forwards for Mercedꦰes whose 2023 has so far been summarised by major problems with the W14’s competitiveness.
Hamilton was asked about Russell’s podium-finish, before it was downgraded, and the interviewer said:🌊 “You must be happy about that?”
But he replied: “Well, it’s nothing to do with me. But 💛it’s good for the team, sure.”
His response may have been influenced by an obvious frustration♌ a🌳t the W14, and its limitations compared to the dominant Red Bull duo's RB19.
Hamilton was outperformed by Russell both in qualifying and during theꦫ grand prix in Jeddah.
The se🦂ven-time F1 champion finish🌞ed fifth but couldn’t get past Russell despite ending the race on soft tyres.
Hamilton told Sky that he u✃sed the wrong set-up while Russell profited 𝓡from a better direction.
“There was like a 50-50 cꦕhoice,” he said. “I chose one way and he chose another.
“More 𓂃often than not, the way he went is the w﷽rong one. But it just happened to work.
"So I could only match his pace [ratﷺher] t𝔉han be quicker this weekend. But I’ll work hard to make sure we are in a better place next time.”
Rus🍬sell finished ahead of Hamilton in the F1 standings in 2022, and earned Mercedes’ sole win of the year in Brazil.
Ja꧟mes was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
