21/06/2025 09:45
George Russell has proposed that Lewis Hamilton's struggles at
Ferrari could be the result of the seven-time F1 champion trying
too hard. Russell served as Hamilton's team-mate for three seasons
at Mercedes, and replaced the elder Briton as Mercedes team leader
after the 40-year-old defected to Ferrari at the start of this
year. Aside from a Sprint pole and win in China, Hamilton has
largely struggled at Ferrari, and was particularly downbeat after
the Spanish GP, in which he was sixth. Hamilton is yet to register
a grand prix podium for Ferrari, taking a best result of fourth at
Imola, leaving Russell to propose an idea that Hamilton could be
overdoing it in trying to replicate his Mercedes form. "I think
when you are a seven-time world champion, anything less than
victory is a failure," Russell told the media, including
RacingNews365. "You're probably pushing yourself and your team
over the top to achieve beyond the potential, to try and achieve
these great results, and it is potentially counterproductive.
"What I saw last year is that when he was on his A-game, he was a
real competitor to me, and he was driving amazingly, we saw it at
Silverstone last year, we saw it in China this year. "For all of
us, unless you are in the orange car at the moment, the chance of
victory is slim, and for all of us, it is frustrating. "It is
frustrating for me, it is frustrating for Charles [Leclerc], he is
such a great driver and hasn't had a shot at the championship since
2022, but that's the nature of this sport."
