It’s not easy to follow Lewis Hamilton after a bad day lately. The British champion’s interview for F1 TV after Saturday’s qualifying lasted exactly twelve seconds, during which he managed to answer two questions. He wasn’t much happier on Sunday either.
There’s no denying it, George Russell beat his teammate in Jeddah. In qualifying, even the younger of the pair of Mercedes pilots gave the older one more than three tenths, which certainly did not happen often to Lewis Hamilton in his career.
While Russell after the race described the Saudi Arabian weekend as “one of my best in F1”during which “achieved more than the car’s potential”Hamilton complained about the setup of his own car.
“If I had the same settings as George, I would be better off,” the seven-time champion told the media.
According to his former team-mate Nic Rosberg – one of only three people in the world who managed to beat Lewis in the same car – the seven-time champion’s dejected expression is also the result of losing a battle with a team-mate.
“It’s pretty simple, that’s the expression Lewis uses when he’s beaten by a teammate,” declared the 2016 world champion.
“George is the future world champion and it is difficult for Lewis to stay ahead of him. We already saw what an amazing season George had last year and he continues this form this year as well.”
“It will be a huge challenge, but let’s not forget that Lewis is the best driver of all time, so if there’s anyone who can beat George, it’s him.” he added Rosbergaccording to which the seven-time champion cannot be written off.
“Definitely not. It’s such a small weakness of Lewis that sometimes he gets a bit off mentally and loses his rhythm, but every time he manages to come back with great fanfare, George shouldn’t get too complacent.” he said Rosberg.
