"I'm sure he can" – Lewis Hamilton could lose to new Mercedes teammate, claims Ralf Schumacher

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes Lewis Hamilton could lose out to incoming Mercedes teammate George Russell in 2022. Schumacher feels Russell has the potential to go toe-to-toe with Hamilton in the same car and could end up coming out on top given his performances at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, the six-time F1 race winner said:

“I’m sure he can beat Hamilton, of course. There were always discussions about Bottas. I never understood why it took so long. Russell is an exceptional talent. Whether it will go as far as with Lewis remains to be seen.”

Despite his potential and some great performances at Williams last season, Schumacher says he still has some reservations about the young Briton, given that his former teammate Nicholas Latifi often managed to outpace him in the latter part of the 2021 season.

Throughout his time at Williams, Russell has developed a reputation for extracting the maximum from his car, especially in qualifying, earning himself the sobriquet 'Mr. Saturday'. The young Briton’s race pace, however, has never been exceptional, especially in comparison to his qualifying performances.

Despite having more experience within the team, Russell was outraced by his teammate Latifi when the team scored their first double-points finish since 2019. This has led to questions being raised about his racecraft, with Red Bull’s Helmut Marko suggesting that Russell has yet to prove himself.

While his race pace at Williams was often lackluster, he did manage to impress on his one-off debut for Mercedes at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix when subbed for his future teammate Lewis Hamilton, after the latter tested positive for COVID-19.

During the race, Russell displayed supreme race pace to beat Valtteri Bottas, only to lose out on a potential win after Mercedes botched their ’double stack' pit stops.

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Lewis Hamilton looking forward to working with George Russell, after watching the latter grow for years

Lewis Hamilton says he is excited to work with new teammate George Russell to “steer the team” in the same direction, after watching the Mercedes junior grow over the years. Speaking in an interview with the media after the Mercedes 2022 launch, Hamilton said:

“I’ve had him [Russell] sitting behind me before at the desk when we’re working away designing you know, getting this set up on the race weekends. Now we will be working naturally opposite from him, but collaborating with him, hopefully steering the car in the same direction. So yeah, I’m excited for that.”

Russell has been a Mercedes junior since 2017 when he started racing in GP3 under the German marquee’s support. Throughout his time with the team, the young Briton has worked closely with Hamilton and Bottas, learning how they work in developing the car and approach each race weekend.

A constant presence at the Mercedes garage before he made his F1 debut, Russell already has intimate knowledge of the team and its inner workings. He also developed a strong relationship with the team members as well as his new teammate Lewis Hamilton.