Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have been teammates at Mercedes over the past three years. However, in the last three years, things have gone downhill for the Silver Arrows. Who could believe that the German team would become the third or fourth-best team in the grid back in 2021? They were the most dominant team in the grid for eight years in a row. Moreover, the whole turbo-hybrid era belonged to the Brackley team. No other team could win the constructor title between 2014 and 2021. Even drivers of the Mercedes team used to rule the grid during that era, especially Lewis Hamilton. He won six Driver’s World Championships in the turbo-hybrid era, missing out twice.
Hamilton came second in 2016 and 2021. Since 2022, the seven-time champion has had a new teammate as George Russell replaced Valterri Bottas. But it was unfortunate for the young Briton because the Silver Arrows lost their place at the top to Red Bull. Moreover, Mercedes remained winless in 2023. Albeit, in 2022, they managed to win a single race in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Russell came first, and Hamilton came second in Sao Paolo, Brazil, back in 2022. Since then, the two Mercedes drivers have been fierce rivals. Lately, in the 2024 Dutch GP, Lewis Hamilton seemed to be unhappy with his teammate.
Why Wasn’t Lewis Hamilton Happy With George Russell In The 2024 Dutch GP?
The seven-time champion did not have a great time racing in the Netherlands this year. He faced a grid penalty after the qualifying session for impeding Red Bull’s Sergio Perez during Q1. As a result, Lewis Hamilton had to start from P14 on Sunday, when he could have started from P11 if he hadn’t received the three-place grid penalty. However, on the final race day at the Dutch GP, the Mercedes superstar managed to recover well, finishing at P8. Hence, he managed to earn some points for his team. But he believes that if he had finished at P4 like Russell did during the qualifying session, he could finish at the podium. In the post-race interview, as per Sky Sports F1, Lewis Hamilton said that he felt much happier on Sunday.
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Adding to that, he mentioned that he was moving in the right direction, progressing, but unfortunately, he had to start from too far back. Moreover, Lewis Hamilton took a brutal dig at his teammate, saying, “If I qualified where my teammate was, I could have finished at least there (P4), if not further ahead.” But George Russell finished at P7 right ahead of his teammate. However, Hamilton feels if he was in Russell’s place after qualifying, he could get Mercedes closer to the podium. Moreover, Lewis said that his race pace on Sunday was good. But he expressed doubts on the overall package, saying, “W15 was not great like the last race before the summer break, we had a lot more pace, previously.”
Mercedes Left “Head-Scratching” After The 2024 Dutch GP
Lando Norris of McLaren was able to beat his good friend Max Verstappen of Red Bull yet again since the 2024 Miami GP. Moreover, Ferrari had a podium finish too. But Mercedes failed to get closer to the podium. Generally, the Zandvoort circuit has been favorable to the design concepts of the Silver Arrows.
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But their race pace yesterday failed to please Toto Wolff, the team principal. Moreover, the Mercedes boss claimed that the team had to do a lot of “Head scratching.” Now, the Brackley team will have to plan a comeback for the Monza, Italy race. Toto Wolff said their race in the Netherlands this year “Was pretty bad.”
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