If George Russell could take one skill from Lewis Hamilton and transplant it into himself, it would be his race pace. And that is because Russell admits – even if he believes he had reached Hamilton’s level towards the end of their time as team-mates – it was Hamilton who was “better” on race days.

For the first time since he joined Mercedes, George Russell will this year race against Lewis Hamilton not as a team-mate but as a direct F1 title rival at Ferrari

George Russell has described Lewis Hamilton ’s shock F1 switch to Ferrari as being a “total bombshell”. Hamilton left the F1 world stunned by announcing he would be leaving Mercedes after 12 illustrious years in order to complete a blockbuster transfer to rivals Ferrari last February.