"I definitely wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, Lewis without a doubt, because he’s already a 7-time champion’": F1 pundit on Lewis Hamilton vs George Russell

Martin Brundle feels that it's too close to call between the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in terms of performance. Russell joined Hamilton at the German squad in 2022 and impressed instantly by outscoring his teammate in his very first season. The season also featured Russell securing his first F1 win and pole position while Hamilton could achieve neither.

The 2023 F1 season, however, saw the tide turn completely as Hamilton was overall the better driver of the two. He secured the team's only pole position of the season and was quite clearly the more consistent of the two Mercedes drivers. Russell had his moments but he was just a step behind his teammate when it came to overall consistency of results.

Talking about the rivalry between the two Hamilton and Russell, Brundle in his year-end column on Sky Sports wrote that it was too close to call between the two.

“I think they’re so close, those two, if you look at the stats, but George had a couple of nightmare races this year. That’s a very good question. It depends if Lewis maintains his current motivation, but it’s so close to call. Lewis knows how to do that but George has got youth on his side," he wrote.

"I don’t know the answer to that, but I definitely wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, Lewis without a doubt, because he’s already a seven-time champion.’ That I would absolutely not say. Until George is in a championship-winning position, we don’t know if he’s got the head to cope with it,” Brundle added.

Lewis Hamilton could switch to Plan B if 8th title seems out of reach

Martin Brundle also cautioned that Lewis Hamilton could pivot to a potential plan B if he doesn't see any short-term route to a potential title charge. With Mercedes yet to produce a title-contending car in the new regulations, there are question marks on what the team could achieve if it had the right direction.

With question marks still there around the team and a probability of a misstep certainly not negligible, Brundle acknowledged that Hamilton could look at alternatives.

“I think if Lewis senses that the eighth title is unachievable in a reasonable time frame, he’ll be thinking of Plan B,” he explained.

Hamilton does have a two-year contract with Mercedes heading into the 2024 F1 season. Could we see the driver leave the team midway if the car is not up to the mark? That is certainly an interesting question because he hasn't had this lean patch throughout his career which does make his next decision much more anticipated.