George Russell entered Mercedes as a great admirer of Lewis Hamilton. Shedding light on what their relationship turned into as the two talented drivers raced alongside each other at the Brackley team, Russell revealed how an engineer once wallpapered the office with a photo of the two.
Talking on the Mercedes Formula 1 team's YouTube channel in a video celebrating his 150th race in F1, Russell explained what became a famous prank from his time with the seven-time world champion.
"Evan, one of our engineers had printed off a photo of Lewis and I from when I was like 10 years old, and he placed it around the whole office. He printed off 30 pieces of this.
"I think Lewis was more annoyed with it than I was. I thought it was great. This was pre-Lewis’s fashion sense. And I don’t think he appreciated it too much."
When Russell arrived at the Silver Arrows, Hamilton was a clear benchmark, and by the end of the ground effect era, Russell had edged Hamilton by 22 points.
"I won't say it's been tough [being Russell’s team mate]; it's been pleasant," Hamilton said in July 2022. "We've worked together incredibly well.
"George has been super positive… had a positive impact on the work environment. It's generally been a real pleasure to work with him and it's been great to see his success. He's done such a great job, got great points for the team and he's going to continue to improve, he's going to continue to improve for a long time."
The now-Ferrari driver added at the time that he believed Russell had the potential to be champion in the future, something that Russell is now fully in agreement with.
"You always believe in yourself as a driver, but you just never know until you get the chance," Russell added in the video. "Can I win a race? Can I fight for a championship?
"And I think for me, that was like, I know I can do this now, and given the equipment, I know I’ll take my chances," he said in reference to 2020's Sakhir Grand Prix where he stepped in for Hamilton.
"That was so painful for me," he said about his ninth place finish after a puncture cost him a near win. "But my life is no different today had we won that race or not."
With a set of new regulations for this season, Russell will be hoping the rumours of Mercedes' strong power unit could give him similar opportunities.
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