George Russell puts Lewis Hamilton in danger as bold Mercedes F1 prediction made

29 November 2023 , 18:19

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George Russell may be a title threat to Lewis Hamilton in the future (Image: HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Lewis Hamilton may have more than just Max Verstappen to overcome to achieve the eighth Formula 1 title he so desperately craves.

Red Bull are dominating the sport right now. And Verstappen blew away another swathe of single-season records on the way to his third consecutive title this year - his simplest championships success to date.

Mercedes have not been able to compete on track and so Hamilton has been out of the fight. But even if his team provides the car he needs in the next two years, Johnny Herbert thinks the seven-time champion will have another hurdle to overcome.

That, the former Sky Sports F1 pundit believes, could come in the form of team-mate George Russell. The younger Brit has struggled in his sophomore season with Mercedes but beat Hamilton in their first year together.

And Herbert has warned Hamilton that Russell's rise could end his hopes of summitting the F1 standings again. "I still think there are enough clever people at Mercedes to be able to produce a car that can actually win races and win a world championship, yes, absolutely," he told Genting Casino.

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"Potentially, the guy that's going to make it difficult if they get those ingredients altogether is George. I think George will probably be the one that may, where it might slip away, because George, I think, is more than capable of being able to lead a team.

"He has enough willpower, mental capacity, to absorb all the pressures that come when you win races and are nearer to a world championship. So I think he could be the one that maybe stops that eighth, but I think overall he's still got the drive, that's for sure, Lewis."

The truth is neither of them can hope to challenge Verstappen and Red Bull unless Mercedes make significant strides in terms of car performance. Hamilton is not confident of a title fight in 2024 but is convinced, at least, that his team is finally heading in the right direction.

He said: "We didn't have a North Star necessarily at the beginning of the year, knowing exactly where we needed to work towards. And it's been kind of a zigzag line trying to get to where we need to be. Every now and then something positive happens, you're like, 'Okay, that's it.' And then it shifts, so the goalpost is always moving, which is typical.

"I do believe we have a North Star now, which I don't think we've had for two years. We are just on massively different trajectories, but I think we understand the car so much better now. We have developed great tools in the background. So naturally, I'm hopeful. But I'm not going to hold my breath."

Daniel Moxon