George Russell has denied reports he and Lewis Hamilton haven’t spoken since the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, after Russell replaced his fellow Briton following a positive COVID-19 test.
Hamilton was forced to miss the race after he fell ill with COVID-19, and Mercedes called upon Williams driver Russell to stand-in for the seven-time champion.
Russell went on to qualify second and passed team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the start to lead the race. He looked set for victory before a tyre mix-up and a puncture dropped him down the order. Russell recovered to finish ninth with the fastest lap to score three points.
The performance cast a shadow over Bottas, whilst some fans questioned Hamilton’s talent.
Media reports surfaced that quoted Russell as saying he and Hamilton hadn’t spoken since, but the 23-year-old confirmed that his comments had been misquoted and there was no issue between them.
“I think the question towards me was ‘Did you speak to Lewis after Bahrain?’. No we didn’t speak, as we wouldn’t speak after any other race,” replied Russell.
“We’re racing each other, if we would see each other in the paddock we would speak. We’ve seen each other this year, a little fist bump along the way, and that’s been the same since 2019, before last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
“My relationship with Lewis is the same as a lot of the other drivers up and down the paddock which is completely fine. There are no hard feelings, no issues between myself and Lewis.”
Russell is favourite to become Hamilton’s team-mate at Mercedes for 2022, replacing Bottas who has struggled to match Hamilton’s performance.
The fact that Hamilton didn’t at least send a text thanking him for taking care of his car and congratulating him for his performance is downright odd, not to mention rude. We know Hamilton was texting the team during the race, which makes this even stranger. I think it indicates a sign of extreme insecurities due to Russell exposing the true story behind Hamilton’s hyper-inflated stats at Mercedes.
Did Hulkenburg get text messages from all drivers he stood in for? I doubt it. Why would Hamilton text Russell, he probably doesn’t even have his number?
Bang on. Bottas is completely unworthy of such a car, and Russell embarrassed him at the first attempt; passing him twice and closing in to overtake for a third time when laps ran out, robbed of victory by team errors and a puncture. Bottas displayed a total lack of ability to make the moves through the field which Russell managed. No surprise at all, since if one leaves Hamilton aside and compares Bottas’s record to his predecessor, Rosberg, himself no more than a competent driver, certainly no superstar, the nine wins Bottas has achieved in four seasons driving the crushingly dominant car look feeble next to Rosberg’s twenty-one wins in three. As you say, due to the combination of having the only car capable of winning the title, and a teammate devoid of true quality, Hamilton’s stats have been inflated ridiculously. The prolonged failure of Mercedes to resolve this situation for the better is utterly insulting to the sport and its fans.
You trolls are comedians
The F1 GOAT Lewis worried about Boy Georgie from Williams 😂