"When you’re on the right foot" - Lewis Hamilton's teammate reflects on a disappointing first half of the 2023 F1 season

Lewis Hamilton's teammate George Russell feels the domino effect of one thing going wrong after the other has led to a disappointing first half of the season. The driver started the season well and was very impressive in the way he secured a front row in Melbourne. However, since the much-touted Mercedes upgrade in Monaco, the driver has taken a step back.

Hamilton seems to have taken over and is putting together great results, while Russell seems to be playing catch up.

Unlike the 2022 F1 season where it was very close between the two drivers, this season the gap seems to have gotten bigger. Not only that, the other factor is how it is Hamilton and not Russell, who is scoring the bigger standout results this season.

Last season, George Russell secured the pole position first and even got a win later in the season. This time around, it is Lewis Hamilton who has done that.

Looking back at the first half of the season, Russell felt that this might be down to him choosing the wrong direction with the setup and the resulting snowball effect. As quoted by PlanetF1, the Mercedes driver said:

“When you’re on the right foot, things are a little bit easier. You’re not stressing, your car is in the right place when you put it on the ground. I’m sure we’re going to be strong in the second half of the season. We’ve got some little things coming in after the break. I’m confident we can secure that second-best team… to try and close that gap further.”

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Lewis Hamilton's teammate George Russell welcomes the summer break

Lewis Hamilton's teammate George Russell welcomed the summer break as it will give him some time to unwind. Talking about the summer break, he said:

“Yeah, definitely ready for it. It’s been a season of two halves. The first six races were really strong. The last six races, not so much. I’ve a few ideas why that is, a lot of missed opportunities this season, for various reasons. Some from mistakes of my own, some like the failure in Australia cost me a lot of points."

"But, nevertheless, if you’re not fighting for the P1 in the Drivers’ Championship, you just want to maximise the Constructors’ and, so far, we’re doing that. It’s needed, this break, for everybody in the sport – it has been a pretty intense start to the season," he added.

It will be interesting to see how the dynamics between the two drivers evolve during the second half of the season.