George Russell makes bold Lewis Hamilton comment after British GP win

Mercedes driver George Russell claimed that his teammate Lewis Hamilton would not have considered signing for Ferrari for 2025 and beyond if Mercedes had been in its current excellent form. Mercedes’ recent revival and promising pace, underlined by consecutive wins, has significantly strengthened the team’s position.

Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 after winning his first title with McLaren, and has enjoyed a remarkable career since then, taking six more titles with the team before hitting a performance block in 2022, marking the beginning of Formula 1’s ground-effect era.

The seven-time world champion tried his best but failed to secure race victories as Mercedes struggled to design a powerful car for the current era that could win races. Therefore, Hamilton announced his switch to Ferrari earlier this year for the upcoming season, hoping that the Maranello squad could provide him with a car fast enough to help him secure his eighth title.

But with Mercedes’ recent revival providing a glimmer of hope, Hamilton ended his two-and-a-half-year winless streak with the W15 F1 car by taking victory at the British Grand Prix. Russell, who won the Austrian Grand Prix a week earlier, believes Hamilton had “no way” of leaving Mercedes if the team had performed this way before he made the decision. He told Reuters:

“I don’t think he would have left if the team was performing so well.

“He would never have left, certainly not.

“For 2026, the PU (power unit) looks very strong and everything we are doing with the fuels looks great, so we are very optimistic about the coming years.

“As tough as the last few years have been, it really feels like we have the momentum now.”

Russell understands his 39-year-old teammate and believes Hamilton may have needed a change after 12 years at Mercedes. He added:

“I think everyone wants change at some point.

“He’s been here for 12 years now, he’s achieved so much with the team. I think it’s exciting for him to have that change.

“But when the team you’re in now is winning races and everything looks fantastic for the future, you just want to drive the fastest car possible and it doesn’t matter what colour that car is.”