"Now? Yes": George Russell believes he's faster than Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton

George Russell believes he is currently faster than his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Russell impressed everyone in his first year with the German team last season, scoring his maiden win at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He also became only the third driver to finish ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the same car over a season.

While appearing in a lie detector test for Sky Sports, Russell was asked if he considered himself to be faster than Hamilton.

"Now? Yes," he replied.

Russell also opined that Hamilton is the greatest driver of all time.

George Russell analyzes his crash at the 2023 Canadian GP

George Russell hit the wall in the opening stages of the Canadian GP while attempting to put pressure on Fernando Alonso up ahead in P3.

In his post-race comments, the Mercedes driver apologized to his team.

“Apologies to the team," Russell said. "We’ve put so much hard work and effort into this weekend and a small mistake has had massive consequences. I was doing everything I could to put Fernando [Alonso] under pressure. I then ran a little bit wide and hit the kerb; the next thing I knew I was in the wall. That’s at least 12 points that we’ve left on the table today. We did a good job after that to get back into the mix. Sadly we had an issue with the brakes which forced us to retire the car. "

"They felt OK from my side, but the team can see the data and could see that we couldn’t continue. I’m disappointed with the race today but there are positives we can take away. The car was quick on a circuit that we weren’t expecting to be that competitive and we took the fight to those around us. The team is doing a great job and the future is exciting. Let’s see what the upcoming races bring,” he added.

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff claimed that George Russell was 'unlucky.'

"George was unlucky today," Wolff said. "He hit a large kerb and tried to keep it cornering and ended up in the wall. He was pushing hard, and this car is still a little bit difficult at times. He ultimately retired with brake wear issues.”

It will be interesting to see how George Russell bounces back when the action returns in Austria in a couple of weeks.