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It was recently announced that George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will continue as teammates at Mercedes for at least another two years. However, if Hamilton is no longer his teammate, George Russell would like to have Max Verstappen as a teammate.
It may seem strange of Russell to want Max Verstappen as a teammate, after all, being Verstappen’s teammate does not seem easy (I am more afraid of racing against Max Verstappen in the same car than against Lewis Hamilton). However, George Russell mainly wants to compete against the very best, in the same material, in the same car. Russell also did this last year as Hamilton’s brand new teammate and he was only the second teammate who managed to finish in the championship ahead of Hamilton during an F1 season.
“Hamilton is clearly the best driver ever,” Russell told ‘Racefans’ without hesitation. “I learn a lot from him, both on and off the track.”
“I think he’s still hungry for more. He wants to try to win more races. I am hungry to achieve that and beat him.”
“Someone recently asked me ‘If Lewis wasn’t your teammate, who would you want as a teammate?’ And I answered Max, because when I joined Mercedes Lewis was, and still is, the best driver ever. He is the fastest and best on the grid and you want a chance to compete against him, which I have now, week after week.”
“You want to put yourself in a position where you can compete against the best, I believe in myself and I want to prove to myself and the people around me what I am capable of. You get respect when you compete against the best.”
Russell is then asked whether he believes that Mercedes will make up the deficit to Red Bull and whether he believes that he can become world champion together with Mercedes in the near future.
“I’m very confident,” Russell said. “I think when you’re in a Mercedes or Red Bull, you can trust that if one doesn’t win, the other will be there to chase you down. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else; As everyone keeps saying, we want the fastest car anywhere to win. Naturally, you want to be in the fastest car. But Mercedes believed in me, they are the ones who supported me.”