George Russell backs ‘inspiring’ Lewis Hamilton to ‘come back stronger’

Hamilton has endured a difficult start to the season with Mercedes off the pace

George Russell (left) believes that Lewis Hamilton will soon be back to top form (Getty Images)

George Russell believes that Lewis Hamilton will “come back stronger” from a tough opening four races of the 2022 Formula 1 season.

Mercedes have struggled to match the performance of early front-runners Ferrari and Red Bull while suffering from significant issues with their new car.

Russell, who joined Mercedes from Williams ahead of the season, has out-performed his more senior teammate, finishing in the top five at every race so far and sitting fourth in the Drivers’ Championship standings.

By contrast, seven-time world champion Hamilton is languishing in seventh after failing to score a single point across the weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with the 37-year-old declaring his hopes of a record-breaking eighth crown over after the race in Imola.

However Russell has backed his teammate to battle back into contention and says that the way that Hamilton is going about trying to overcome Mercedes’ issues is “inspiring”.

“Lewis has clearly got the pace,” Russell said to Sky Sports F1. “He’s incredibly fast and he’s showed that so far this year, but it’s just been tricky for us as a team to get it done when the time is needed.

“When things have been more stable, Lewis has still been massively fast. I know there was a bit of a blip last weekend [at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix] but I have no doubt he’s going to come back and the way he’s pushing the team and motivating the team is truly inspiring.

“We all want more. He wants more. Nobody is happy with the position we’re in currently.”

Mercedes have dominated the Constructors’ Championship since 2014 but appear unlikely to challenge Ferrari and Red Bull unless solutions can be found.

Overhauled car design regulations forced teams to significantly redesign their cars for 2022, and Mercedes’ W13 vehicle has been persistently troubled by “porpoising” caused by the aerodynamic tweaks made.

The issue, and wider problems, has impacted both Russell and Hamilton, but the 24-year-old thinks his experience at Williams over the last few seasons has been beneficial in allowing him to be seemingly handle a troublesome car better than his teammate - even if Russell still expects Hamilton to get closer to him as the season goes on.

“We are equally struggling,” Russell commented on Mercedes’ issues ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. “When the car is so far out of bed and it’s not in the right window, it doesn’t really feel like a proper racing car to drive.

Perhaps with my struggles at Williams, with very difficult cars, maybe that’s helped in some small regard.

“But Lewis will come back stronger, I have no doubt. He’s definitely going to be pushing me all the way.

“I’m not getting comfortable in this position because I know what he’s capable of.”