George Russell sent another Mercedes sack threat as Lewis Hamilton 'gets brutally honest'
Lewis Hamilton has been scathing in his criticism of his Mercedes car in recent races while team-mate George Russell is hoping to impress the Silver Arrows amidst his contract uncertainty
Former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner has warned that George Russell ’s Mercedes seat is not secure, while Lewis Hamilton has the luxury of being critical of the team because of his deal with Ferrari.
Hamilton announced in February that he will join rivals Ferrari at the end of this year. Over the course of the 2024 season, the seven-time world champion has become increasingly vocal in criticising his Mercedes W15 car.
His outbursts were on full display during the recent Brazilian Grand Prix, where the 39-year-old described the car as the “worst” he has driven, before comparing it to a “plank of wood”. The racing legend managed to recover from his Q1 elimination by rescuing a point on race day, but still dubbed the weekend a “disaster" and went as far as to say the car was “unacceptable”.
Hamilton fumed: "It is devastating to have these bad races in the second half of the season. But all I can say is that we're trying coming into the weekends, but it is definitely not acceptable, it is definitely not good enough."
Steiner, formerly Haas’ team principal, is convinced Hamilton's outspokenness is only because there is no risk with regards to his Mercedes seat, having secured his future with Ferrari. But the Italian claims that Russell has no such luxury as he still has to prove he has what it takes to be Mercedes’ No 1 driver in the long term. Russell will race in the Mercedes strip next year as he has done since 2022, though his current contract expires at the end of 2025.
Steiner said on the Red Flag podcast: “The car is what it is. It’s not the best car, it’s the fourth best car at the moment on a good day. I think Lewis knowing that he’s leaving anyway, it’s easier to complain.
"George has got all the interest to do to whatever is there to show that he’s the leader of the team for the future. He has to prove that, because he knows that because he knows that when his Mercedes contract is up, his seat is not 100 per-cent safe so he just tries to do his best, puts everything into it.
“And on the other side, Lewis doesn’t like the car and how it drives, knows that now in three races he’s not there anymore.”
Steiner’s thoughts were shared by former Mercedes star and world champion Nico Rosberg, who warned Russell that his seat was “not safe at all” in September. Rookie Kimi Antonelli will partner Russell next year, but whispers of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff ’s interest in current championship leader Max Verstappen, a three-time champion at Red Bull, have done little to quell concern over his future.
Russell has one official race win to his credit this season, along with two poles and two fastest laps, leaving him sixth in the driver standings. The 26-year-old Briton claims he isn’t paying much attention to hearsay and revealed he has at least some form of agreement with his employers.
"It’s something we’ve not spoken about at all to be honest," he told reporters earlier in the year. "I’ve been with this team for so so long, I’m managed by Mercedes, and we’ve always said we will be continuing together for the indefinite future. There’s a lot of conversations going on which are quite entertaining to read, but from my side, I’m not focused on any of that. I’m just focused on my driving."
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