Damon Hill claims Lewis Hamilton has lost some of his competitive edge
- Planet Sport writer
- 11 April 2023
Former Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill says George Russell is outperforming Sir Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in Formula 1 because he has more to prove.
While Hamilton finished above Russell in 2022, the latter picked up Mercedes only win of the season which is arguably more important.
In terms of overall performance, Russell has comfortably overtaken Hamilton this season and has out-qualified him in all three race weekends so far.
Speaking to the F1 Nation podcast, Hill said he believes Russell's hunger to prove himself in Formula 1 is driving him to perform better than Hamilton at the moment.
"We're competitive and political. You have to be aware of rising forces or empires.
"George has to work very hard to make himself a valued asset to the team, which he's doing.
"He has to do the hard work. Lewis doesn't have to.
"They know what they've got with Lewis - they know, given half a chance, he'll be back on top form and can deliver extraordinary races.
"They know George can do that too, but he's yet to prove it.
"Lewis is very good at sussing this out - he'll be thinking: 'I'll let you do the hard work, George, because it's exhausting'.
"As president of the GPDA he's got a big workload, George.
"Lewis' strategy is to remove distractions and leave time for downtime.
"Even with Valtteri Bottas, Lewis took a relaxed approach to the start of seasons. He lets things unfold and, eventually, when he sees an opportunity, he steps on the gas and disappears into the distance."
