George Russell hopes Lewis Hamilton Ferrari threat has an expiry date
George Russell congratulated his old teammate after a Ferrari strategy caught Mercedes out.
George Russell says while it was special to see Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari gamble pay off with a breakthrough victory at the Barcelona Grand Prix, he hopes the threat doesn’t linger.
After all, Hamilton has replaced Russell as Kimi Antonelli’s nearest challenger in the title fight after stringing together three podiums that culminated in a P1 at Barcelona.
George Russell wary of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari resurgence
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Although Mercedes appeared to be running away with both championship titles during the early rounds of the F1 2026 campaign, Hamilton has brought himself into the equation.
Boosted by Ferrari’s recent big upgrades, Hamilton finished runner-up in Canada and Monaco, before winning in Spain.
After four difficult seasons in F1’s ground-effect aerodynamic era, Hamilton is notably happier with the new generation of cars, and it has shown in his results.
He also spent the better part of last season pushing for changes that have been made, “and I now have the right team around me, I now have the right car around me, and now I can start doing what I do best.”
Russell, who joined Hamilton on the podium at the Barcelona race where he was runner-up to his former teammate, reckons Hamilton is going to be a thorn in Mercedes’ side going forward.
“It was a big, bold move to join Ferrari,” Russell said after Hamilton’s breakthrough victory, “and to see it now paying off for him is very special to see given the magnitude of the decision.
“And, yeah, he’s going to be a real threat… Hopefully it doesn’t continue for too long.”
Hamilton edged ahead of Russell in the Drivers’ standings with his P2 result in Monaco, and is nine points clear of the Briton after Barcelona.
The former teammates, though, are a long way off Antonelli’s 156 points, with the Italian holding a 41-point advantage over Hamilton.
But while Russell is third in a three-driver fight for the world title, the Briton says he won’t change his approach having already stated that the title is Antonelli’s to lose.
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“Well,” said Russell, “at the moment Lewis is obviously ahead of me in the championship.
“We need to see across the course of a couple of races. They did bring a big upgrade and I think the development slope is so steep at the moment for all of the teams.
“Whoever is going to be bringing those upgrades earliest is going to be taking a step forward.
“We saw it with McLaren in Miami, having a really strong weekend, and then ourselves and Ferrari have taken a step forward thereafter.
“So honestly, the approach doesn’t change for me.
“I’m just looking to maximise my weekends. It hasn’t been the case recently and see where it takes us.”
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