"I bet he's sulking" - Lewis Hamilton may be 'complaining and whining' after George Russell has consecutively outperformed him, says former F1 world champion

In his mid-season analysis in a column for Unibet, two-time F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen gave his opinion on the brewing rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Mercedes are seeing changing driver dynamics within themselves with their new 2022 line-up. With the 24-year-old significantly ahead of the seven-time world champion in the drivers' standings, Hakkinen claims that Hamilton is unlikely to be thrilled. The Finn said:

“I wonder how Lewis [Hamilton] behaves in the team meetings. I bet he’s sulking. I can imagine the sulking. There’s a lot of complaining and whining. And now starts the natural process of drivers - ‘should I go somewhere else?’. It’s a fact. He’s been at Mercedes for years and won multiple championships. Now that things are not going well, he’ll start thinking of switching teams.”

After the last-lap drama at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton devastatingly watched an eighth championship title slip through his fingers, rumors of his retirement took over the paddock. While this may not be the case, one could certainly argue that the Briton will soon start looking for new challenges within the sport.

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Mika Hakkinen claims it is "noticeable" that George Russell is ahead of Lewis Hamilton

George Russell took his first podium finish with Mercedes last weekend at the 2022 Australian Grand Prix. The 24-year-old currently stands second in the drivers' standings, nine points ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who is currently fifth.

Mika Hakkinen believes that Russell is doing an exceptional job in terms of his consistency, and said:

“George [Russell] drove a really strong race and that third place was very important. It’s really surprising to see him second in the World Championship, but his consistency and the car’s reliability has been impressive – fourth in Bahrain, fifth in Saudi Arabia, and now a podium in Australia.”

Speaking about the recent race weekend and a comparison between the two Mercedes drivers, he added, saying:

“It’s also noticeable that he [George Russell] is ahead of [Lewis] Hamilton, although the Safety Car had a big influence in Melbourne so I don’t think that is any reflection of relative performance. Lewis and George are both doing a fantastic job for Mercedes while the team sorts out its performance problems, and that is another reason Red Bull need to fix their reliability issues.”

The eight-time world champions currently stand second in the constructors' standings, a sizeable 39 points behind leaders Ferrari.