Russell Praises ‘Incredibly Inspiring’ Hamilton: “He does things so differently”

George Russell says Lewis Hamilton does things ‘so differently’ to other people, but despite this, his fellow Briton has been so successful during his career so far, including winning seven World Drivers’ Championships.

Russell will be Hamilton’s team-mate for a second FIA Formula 1 World Championship season in 2023 at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, and he will go into the year on the back of beating his countryman in the standings.

The one-time race winner – he took his maiden victory in the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix – says his champion team-mate has shown himself to be ‘incredibly inspiring’ with what he does off-track as well as on it.

“Lewis is an incredibly unique character,” said Russell to The High Performance Podcast.  “I think he’s incredibly inspiring with all of his activities and projects he has off-circuit.

“When you look at drivers from the past who are just pure racing drivers, [who think] ‘I’m going to wake up living and breathing this sport’, he does things so differently to so many other people, yet has still had so much success along the way.”

Russell likens the different approach to Hamilton’s success to the big three in tennis, with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all finding their way to the top of the sport despite all having very different ways of playing.

And it gives him confidence that there is more than one way of becoming successful within Formula 1, and it is up to him to follow his own path rather than trying to become someone he is not.

“When I look at Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, these are three greats of the sport,” said Russell. “Statistically, they’ve all basically achieved exactly the same achievements, yet they have three totally different ways of playing. I’m sure they train differently.

“When you watch them, they look different. When you see them on court, they excel on different courts or playing fields, yet they’re three greats.

“I think the thing I take away from that, and also what I take away from Lewis, is that there is no one path to success. I think you need to find your own path, your own journey.

“You need to have that self belief that, even if somebody is going down a certain path, you need to follow your own course and you need to do what is best for you.”