George Russell is expecting a “close” fight between Lewis Hamilton and his new team-mate, Charles Leclerc.
Russell knows all about what it is like to go up against the seven-time champion. Across their three seasons together at Mercedes, the younger of the two Brits finished higher in the standings at the end of two of them.
An opportunity to live out his childhood dream proved too irresistible for Hamilton and so, before the 2024 season began, he announced his decision to leave for Ferrari. He is banking on the Italian team giving him a better shot of becoming an eight-time champion than if he remained at Mercedes.
But he is not the only Ferrari driver with championship ambitions. Leclerc has been the pillar around which the Scuderia have built their project and will expect to be in the title fight this year if their car is quick enough.
Hamilton and Leclerc are getting on well for now, but it remains to be seen whether that will remain the case if they become direct rivals for the championship. That is something Russell and Hamilton never were with Mercedes not at their best over those three seasons.
But the Brit expects things to get “interesting” at Ferrari with neither willing to accept being the number two driver. “Charles is a fantastic driver, no doubt about that, so I’m going to be really intrigued to see how that pans out because they’re two amazing drivers,” Russell told the BBC.
“He’s obviously entering an Italian team where Charles has been very much the number one for the past six years. It’s quite an interesting dynamic, but I think it’ll be close between the two of them.”
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Hamilton’s departure means Russell has a new team-mate of his own in the form of rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Mercedes have high hopes for the young Italian’s future but, for now, Russell is the team leader – though he says: “I don’t suddenly feel any additional responsibility.”
And he repeated his “interesting dynamic” comment as he assessed his own new relationship with his much younger team-mate. The Brit said: “He’s a great kid. He’s very young, but he’s a really nice guy. Super-fast, of course.
“Being thrown in at the deep end, which is going to be a big challenge. But in terms of raw speed, I don’t think you can question it. And there’s going to be an interesting new dynamic.”
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