Ahead of last F1 season, much was expected of the internal battle at Mercedes between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The tension was increased and that was also palpable for Lewis Hamilton, he now admits.”
“I would say last year, and I’m completely open about that, I really felt it,” Hamilton told M4 Sport. “George had nothing to lose and everything to gain. If he finished behind me they would say ‘well you finished behind a seven time world champion’ and if he finished ahead of me they would say he is a legend.”
Lewis Hamilton experienced something similar in 2007 when he made his F1 debut with the McLaren F1 team, becoming the teammate of two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso.
“I know exactly what that feeling was like, I had the same feeling when I raced against Fernando Alonso,” said Hamilton. “If I finished behind him they would say they expected it because it was my first year in F1 and if I finished ahead of him it would be great.”
“But obviously, when you’re having problems with the car and you don’t feel like you can get the full potential out of the car, that’s stressful.”
“This year I don’t have that at all and I feel in control again,” said Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton failed to win an F1 race last year, something George Russell did with the difficult to drive Mercedes F1 car. Hamilton finished 35 points and two places behind George Russell in the world championship standings.