George Russell has once again played down his inner-team rivalry with Lewis Hamilton, insisting he isn't out to contest the leadership of the Mercedes squad's indisputable "captain".
Russell's heads into this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as the runner-up behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in F1's Drivers' championship, while Hamilton is nine points behind his teammate in fifth position in the standings.
But Russell's current advantage isn't an early sign of a transition at Mercedes, or a changing of the guard of sorts between the young gun and the seven-time world champion, although such a changeover may well take place at some point in the future.
"You see it sometimes when you’ve got two drivers at different stages of their career," Russell explained in an interview with Sky Sports F1.
"There’s no number one or number two at Mercedes, but in the back of all drivers’ minds they’re fighting for that top leadership spot: ‘I want to be the one’.
"Whereas for both of us, there isn’t that because Lewis has been here for so long; I’m the new kid within the team and I’m not going to go out there trying to be the leader of the team when I’m going up against the greatest of all time who’s been here for 10 years.
"He is like the captain of the team and that’s how it should be."
In addition to taking pointers out on the track from the Mercedes team's "captain", Russell is also attentive to how Hamilton manages his life away from the fast lane, how he puts his mind off racing by indulging in a variety of interests, a modus vivendi that has undeniably helped F1's mega-star sustain his motivation over the years.
"I think this is something I really admire from Lewis… he puts a lot of effort into dabbling into other sports or music and it’s a way to take your mind away," he said.
"And I’m so focused on my racing - I give all of my life to be successful inside that cockpit - but sometimes you can overdo it, and if you don’t give yourself a second to breathe you will just get suffocated in it and you won’t get the most out of your performance."
Hamilton and Russell's relationship is currently one of close collaboration, with the pair working hard to improve their team's fortunes which have been somewhat depressed by the issues impacting Mercedes' new-generation car, with porpoising at the forefront of the W13's troubles.
But Russell is confident that a turnaround is in the works.
"For sure it’s not just the porpoising, there are other issues that we need to get on top of," he said.
"There’s a lot of talk about the weight of the cars and we’re definitely not the lightest car on the grid for sure.
"There’s free lap time there, we’re trying to improve the engine and trying to make that more efficient – obviously you’ve got the stable regulations now but there’s some more we could be doing to get the most out of the engine, which I think some of the other guys are doing a slightly better job of at the moment, and obviously the porpoising issue.
"There are many different approaches and limitations we have, which I think for me gives me faith and confidence that if we get on top of it over time, we will find a huge chunk of lap time."
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