In his debut season with Mercedes, George Russell performed admirably. He consistently finished ahead of his esteemed teammate, Lewis Hamilton, and secured a respectable 4th place in the 2022 driver’s standings. Russell proved to be adept at handling the shortcomings of the 2022 Mercedes car, surpassing Hamilton in this regard. As the 2023 season approached, Russell likely felt confident in his ability to once again outperform Hamilton. However, competing in Formula One is already a challenging feat, but being pitted against a teammate who has already earned 7 championships is undoubtedly the ultimate test. Hamilton can be beaten but he is never defeated.

In 2023, Russell is discovering the reasons behind Hamilton’s triumph in more than 100 races and seven championships. Hamilton is constantly striving for more wins and remains relentless, restless in his pursuit. However, the Mercedes W14 E is yet again proving to be problematic despite sitting second in the constructors championship it is no match for the alien space technology that is Red Bull. Despite this, Hamilton is outperforming Russell, who is evidently struggling to adjust to the deficiencies of the W14 E.

Russell has been able to match Hamilton’s single-lap times closely, but his performance in race trim has not been as successful. In a recent interview with the media leading up to the Belgian Grand Prix, Russell shared some insight into his current situation.

“The first six races were really strong. The last six races, not so much. I’ve a few ideas why that is, a lot of missed opportunities this season, for various reasons.”

“When you’re on the right foot, things are a little bit easier. You’re not stressing, your car is in the right place when you put it on the ground.”

“Some from mistakes of my own, some like the failure in Australia cost me a lot of points. But, nevertheless, if you’re not fighting for the P1 in the Drivers’ Championship, you just want to maximise the Constructors’ and, so far, we’re doing that.”

“I’m sure we’re going to be strong in the second half of the season. We’ve got some little things coming in after the break. I’m confident we can secure that second-best team… to try and close that gap further.”