Lewis Hamilton's rivalry with George Russell will be '10 times worse' than that with Nico Rosberg, claims former F1 team manager

George Russell joined Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton's partner after Valtteri Bottas left the team to join Alfa Romeo. When the move was announced, many Formula 1 fanatics and pundits were sure that the youngster would give the seven-time world champion a tough fight.

Peter Windsor, the former Williams and Ferrari team manager, also spoke about the intensity of their rivalry. Speaking on his Twitch channel, the Australian explained how Russell's rivalry with Hamilton will be much more fierce than what Hamilton had with Nico Rosberg in 2016.

“I think it’ll be 10 times worse than Rosberg/Hamilton. I think what you saw in Barcelona on that opening lap [in 2016] between Lewis and Nico is just the start of it between George and Lewis. Up another level," Windsor said.

He delved deep into how Russell would challenge the seven-time world champion once Mercedes put together a car that challenges for the championship.

“George is tough and hard and he’s going to drive into Lewis quite a lot if they’re in race-winning, Championship-winning cars, for sure. I think Lewis will still be Lewis – he’s still the best driver I’ve ever seen, since Niki [Lauda] maybe, at not getting involved in somebody else’s accident – but George will be right there every race. It’ll be so annoying for Lewis – which is why I keep saying that, in reality, if you’ve got Lewis you’re better off with Valtteri [as his team-mate],” he added.

Russell had a pretty good first season with Mercedes, even though the team suffered quite a lot in 2022. The Briton won his first race with the team when he triumphed in Brazil, while Hamilton's streak of winning a race every season came to an end.

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George Russell feels he cannot beat Lewis Hamilton every race weekend

Despite Lewis Hamilton not having the best of seasons in 2022, George Russell strongly believes that the veteran will bounce back and be extremely strong in the future.

Speaking to The Race, Russell admitted that he cannot beat the seven-time world champion in every single session throughout a season.

"I'm not going to beat him [Lewis Hamilton] every single session, every qualifying, every race. That's just absolutely not going to happen. But having a year like we've had this year, is almost equivalent to maybe what the 95/5 split was for me previously. I never doubted myself. I always believed in myself. But if you go with the mindset 'I'm going to beat Lewis Hamilton 95 per cent of the time', you're going to come away disappointed," Russell said.