One F1 world champion feels Lewis Hamilton was too "comfortable" alongside Valtteri Bottas.
After five successful years, Mercedes opted to promote Russell from Williams in place of Bottas alongside Hamilton for 2022.
Russell enjoyed an impressive first year for the team, becoming just the third teammate to out-score Hamilton."It's hard for a driver when you've spent years winning, and some years easy winning, especially when you had Bottas as a teammate,” he said. "He was alone in the championship, basically. He didn't even need to be at his best to win like he had to do in his first championship. Or a few other years against Nico because Nico was really pushing him.
"He got really comfortable with Bottas, and he had a little bit of a wake-up call in 2022 when George joined.George Russell Mercedes AMG F1 W15 leads team mate Lewis Hamilton …"It's one of the best news we've had in a long, long time,” he added. "Whether you're a fan of Lewis or not, it's huge news. It's amazing news for F1, for Ferrari, and for Lewis. It's good for everyone."That change might build up the hunger again, that little adrenaline rush that wasn't there with the Mercedes that wasn't winning anymore."Esteban Ocon “never scared” of Max Verstappen during karting rivalry
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