Lewis Hamilton’s George Russell warning to Red Bull as Mercedes’ rivals risk major mistake

George Russell’s pace has been questioned by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko ahead of the 2022 Formula One season and his step up to Mercedes. Russell replaces Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate, but Marko has raised doubts about his suitability for the Silver Arrows. And in doing so, he might have made a mistake.

The Mercedes junior enjoyed three steady seasons learning his craft at the back of the pack with Williams, on several occasions showcasing his potential to contend further forward in the future in a faster car.

He would have won the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020 when he stood in for a Covid-stricken Hamilton at Mercedes if not for a team mistake and he finished second at the rained-off 2021 Belgian Grand Prix courtesy of a staggering qualifying lap as he massively over-performed in the Williams.

Yet despite his potential, Marko has said: “Let’s see what Mr Russell will do at Mercedes and whether the praise he has received in advance is justified. I want to see that first.

“There’s no discussion in qualifying, he’s sensational there but if you look at his race speed, he wasn’t far ahead of [his Williams team-mate Nicholas] Latifi.”

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As Marko points out, Russell out-qualified Latifi 19-3 in 2021. Yet Russell also finished ahead of the Canadian 14 times in races, only finishing behind him three times.

The Briton spent 909 laps in front of Latifi last season, compared to his Williams team-mate’s 186 laps ahead, despite Marko suggesting Latifi was near enough on level pegging.

Mercedes are full of hope for Russell, who they believe can be their No 1 title-challenging driver after Hamilton retires.

And the seven-time champion is a big fan of the 23-year-old, saying before his switch to Mercedes: “George is an incredibly talented driver, clearly.

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“I would say probably the only highlight from last week [in the Belgium non-race] was his qualifying lap, it was amazing. I think he’s humble, I think he’s got a great approach.

Wolff added more recently: “He has the pace, in qualifying he is very, very fast. We are not going to put a driver in the car who is not going to have the ambition to do as good as possible to kick his team-mate as hard as he can, win races and championships early too, and that’s clear.”

Russell will already have been fiercely determined to take his opportunity at Mercedes, prove Hamilton right and live up to the race-winning, title-winning potential Wolff sees in him.

After Marko’s comments, the Kings Lynn-born racer will be doubly as eager to prove his pace as Mercedes go looking to steal back the driver’s title from Red Bull and also retain the team title for an incredible ninth straight year.

He has worked his way up to the top – now it’s up to him to show the likes of Marko that he belongs there.

And how the Austrian will regret doubting Russell if he and Hamilton strike a winning combination and beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to both titles.