George Russell Exposes Lewis Hamilton’s ‘Counterproductive’ Trait for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari with great hopes of contending for the drivers’ title from the get-go. However, the Briton is facing an extremely torrid time in his debut season for the Italian constructor. Hamilton seems unable to keep the problems at bay and fight for race wins. Now, George Russell, the 40-year-old’s former teammate, has pointed out that the latter might be doing more harm than good due to his all-or-nothing mentality.

Lewis Hamilton has given it his all to fix the issues at Ferrari and make winning races a habit. Still, Maranello’s questionable strategic calls and subpar performance have caused trouble for Hamilton in his bid to achieve results. Moreover, the 40-year-old has been in Formula 1 for a very long time, and being one of the most successful drivers means that anything less than a victory is considered a failure.

Now, George Russell, who has defeated Lewis Hamilton twice out of the three years they raced together at Mercedes, has pondered over the negative effects of this thinking. Russell reckoned that for a seven-time champion, being runner-up is a failure as well. This meant that the 40-year-old was pushing not only himself to the limit but also the team, which seemingly isn’t working well.

Russell added that Lewis Hamilton wanted to achieve more beyond his potential, which Ferrari might not be ready for just yet. As such, wanting to achieve these great results and pushing to the limit came at a significant cost. The 27-year-old believes that this thinking is potentially ‘counterproductive,’ as it did not help Hamilton much in improving results.

I think when you’re a seven-time World Champion, anything less than victory is failure, and you’re probably pushing yourself and your team over the top to achieve beyond the potential, to try and achieve these great results, and potentially it’s counterproductive.

George Russell said, as reported by planetf1

George Russell reveals Lewis Hamilton’s ‘A-game’ at final Mercedes year

Lewis Hamilton’s final few years with Mercedes were nothing short of a disappointment. The 40-year-old only achieved a couple of race wins and had no chances of fighting for the championship. Still, George Russell, who defeated the Briton in his final year at Mercedes, revealed that the latter showcased his ‘A-game’ in the final year despite losing to his teammate.