Hamilton felt pressure from Russell in 2022: 'He had nothing to lose'

Lewis Hamilton got a new teammate in 2022. Valtteri Bottas was replaced by young George Russell at Mercedes after five years. Hamilton revealed in an interview with M4 Sport that he did feel some pressure from his new hungry teammate last season.

In 2022, Russell eventually finished above the seven-time world champion in the world championship. The former Williams driver had scored 275 points and Hamilton 240. Also, unlike Hamilton, Russell managed to score a victory in 2022. This was the first time Hamilton had faced off against a young, hungry team-mate and, as a result, the Brit felt some pressure.

"I would say last year, totally transparent, I felt it. George had nothing to lose and everything to gain. So if you finish behind me, they would say: ‘Oh you finished behind a seven time world champion’ and if you finish ahead year a legend," Hamilton told an interview.

When Hamilton made his F1 debut in 2007, the Briton experienced the situation from the other side. Here it was the young Hamilton competing against world champion Fernando Alonso. "I had exactly the same with Fernando. If I finished behind him they would say: ‘We expect that, it is your first year’. And if I finished ahead of him then I was great. And of course if you then are struggling with the car and you are not feeling you extract the full potential, then it was not easy, it was stressful. This year I don’t find that at all."