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George Russell's debut at Mercedes this season could not have been better. The young British driver has been fast and consistent without many mistakes. Consequently, he finds himself 23 points ahead of his veteran teammate and compatriot Lewis Hamilton in the championship.
Throughout all of this, Russell has still kept a low profile, gone about his business, and in a way, he has found the perfect method to win hearts at Mercedes without causing too much disruption. With a peerless start to the 2022 season, the 24-year-old has started to establish himself as the future at Mercedes with his approach of not making too much noise within the team.
George Russell is not challenging the status quo
Even before George Russell joined the team, there was a strategic ploy at work for the young driver as he drew himself closer to the team and its leader Lewis Hamilton. At the Abu Dhabi GP last season, he was the only driver who went public to call out "robbery" over what had happened.
Even after joining the team, he has made sure to call Hamilton the supposed team leader at Mercedes and the greatest driver in F1. He has made his intentions clear that he wants to stay with Mercedes and do great things with the team. At no point in time, however, has he voiced any urgency in doing so when Hamilton is still on the team.
Consequently, he has not caused any kind of disruption within the team and has slotted himself in as the perfect team player.
He is letting his performances speak for him
While openly saying that Lewis Hamilton is the team's "captain," George Russell is concurrently going out there and beating the former. Whether it be in qualifying in Imola and Saudi Arabia, or overtaking Hamilton in the Miami GP, or taking advantage of a late pitstop to score a podium in Australia — Russell has beaten the team's "captain" in 4 out of 5 races this season.
This is the perfect dichotomy in which Russell seems to be working right now. He is beating Hamilton, but without fanfare. He is scoring better than his illustrious teammate while also becoming the more reliable Mercedes driver. All the while, however, he is not waving the team leader flag at any point in time.
At this stage of the season, Russell holds a 23-point advantage against Hamilton. There have been weekends where he has beaten the latter convincingly, but even on the ones where he hasn't done that, he's not been too far from Hamilton in terms of pace. Russell has already shown that he is clearly above Valtteri Bottas, his predecessor. He is, however, also starting to show that he might already be one of the best on the grid.
He is playing the long game in a smart way
What George Russell has been scripting this season is a smart approach through which he will be able to achieve his long-term goal with the least resistance. In the past, we have seen friction as a result of the introduction of a young driver into a team that already has an established one as the team leader.
Charles Leclerc did that to Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton himself did that to Fernando Alonso, while Ayrton Senna did it to Alain Prost. In all those scenarios, there was a certain level of friction or a rift within the team, primarily because the younger driver tried to force his way into being the team leader. George Russell, however, has taken an alternate approach in the sense that he is biding his time.
He knows Hamilton is more or less on his way out of Mercedes by the end of next season. In the meantime, Russell is making sure he leaves no stone unturned in proving to the team that he is their future. Whether he is anointed as the team leader while Hamilton is still racing for the team or after he retires, is a question that Russell does not need to bother himself with.
Russell, by taking the road less traveled by, is placing himself in a prime position to take over from Hamilton once the seven-time world champion retires. In doing so, he has achieved it by not rocking the boat even once.
