13 May 2023 , 06:00
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A former Formula 1 team boss has told Lewis Hamilton to "reinvent" himself away from Mercedes with George Russell now the future of the team.
Hamilton has affirmed his desire to win an eighth F1 crown but, with Mercedes struggling to perform, he is without a race win since 2021. And it doesn't seem likely that drought will end any time soon with Red Bull miles ahead of everyone else and on an imperious winning streak.
The seven-time world champion can't even dream of competing with Max Verstappen right now. Besides, he has another battle on his hands much closer to home.
Russell joined the team from Williams last year and settled in very quickly. A consistent run of strong results across the season, despite the team's performance struggles, saw him take his first F1 win by beating Hamilton in Brazil and outscoring his team-mate overall by 35 points.
Very few have been left unimpressed by the 25-year-old, including former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan. Speaking on the latest episode of his Formula for Success podcast with David Coulthard, the Irishman admitted he underestimated Russell at first.
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"I got it wrong with George," said Jordan. "I got it wrong. I saw him and I thought, 'Are Williams really going to sign him? Is that really what's going to happen?' He absolutely blew me away, he did. Full marks. Hands up, I got that wrong – I never thought he would do what he's doing and I never thought he would be beating Lewis."
The fact Russell outperformed the seven-time world champion last year was evidence enough for Jordan to make up his mind about what comes next. Hamilton's Mercedes contract expires at the end of this year and, although all signs point to him signing an extension, the 75-year-old feels he would be best served by starting anew.
Eddie Jordan thinks Lewis Hamilton should leave Mercedes (Malte Ossowski/SVEN SIMON/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)Jordan added: "My only concern is that Lewis has to find something else in his mojo now and he needs to get out of there. He needs to move on, just like he did with McLaren. Get out of Mercedes, Lewis! It's time you reinvented yourself somewhere else."
On the other hand, Coulthard believes Russell has only been able to get the better of Hamilton because Mercedes are not fighting for the championship. The Scot said: "You have two drivers at different phases of their career. The mighty Lewis is still in there, it just won't really show itself until the Mercedes is as mighty as it once was.
"George is just sort of constantly there. This is the best car he's ever driven, so he's not caught up with the baggage of Lewis trying to figure it out, 'Am I re-signing for another year?', 'Can I win another world championship?' So there's a lot more on his plate.
"George is doing a brilliant job [and is an] absolute asset for the team. That's not to say Lewis isn't doing a brilliant job, it just means that the car isn't talking to him right now and when it does, expect him to be showing George why he won seven world championships."