After Lewis Hamilton’s departure, Mercedes is looking ahead to a new era under George Russell: the young Brit is ready to lead the team into the future
After months of headlines surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Mercedes is now looking ahead. With Hamilton, the team is not only losing a seven-time world champion, but also a central leadership figure. Responsibility as the new team leader now falls to George Russell.
“Of course it feels different,” says Russell at the start of testing in Bahrain. “Lewis is a huge personality, on and off the track. But I think everyone in the team is really excited about this next chapter. While the team has many great memories, I am especially grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him for three years – to learn so much from him and to compete directly with him.”
At the time of this statement, Russell had not yet been on the track himself. Instead, his new teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli had taken over the new W16 and driven the most laps (78) and the fastest time in the morning session – although lap times are only of limited significance at this stage of testing.
Russell: “It feels like the end of a chapter”
Since Hamilton’s announced move to Ferrari, there has been much talk of what Mercedes is losing – or may have already lost. The team dominated during the hybrid era from 2014, but has struggled to make its car competitive since the introduction of ground-effect aerodynamics in 2022.
An uncompetitive car that the team seemingly couldn’t get to seemed to increasingly fall on Hamilton – as did the controversial events of the 2021 season finale, in which he lost the world title on the last lap due to a questionable decision by race control.
Last season, Russell scored more points than Hamilton in the drivers’ championship and, perhaps even more remarkably, beat him in 24 of 30 qualifying duels. An impressive feat against a driver with 104 pole positions to his name.
Perhaps that also explains Russell’s calm self-confidence and diplomatic choice of words when asked how Mercedes feels without Lewis Hamilton: “It feels like the end of a chapter, somehow,” he says. “But then you look forward to the next stage. For us at Mercedes, we look ahead, not back.”
