Damon Hill has praised George Russell for doing a "sterling job" so far this season, but the ex-F1 driver rejects claims that Mercedes' recruit has "humiliated" teammate Lewis Hamilton.
In Bahrain, Hamilton scored Mercedes' first podium of 2022, but the Brackley squad has struggled overall to detach itself from F1's midfield and join the fight at the front of grid.
Mercedes' engineers continue to work tirelessly to solve the porpoising issues that are impacting the pace of the team's 2022 car, but so far Russell appears to have adapted to the troubled W13 better than Hamilton.
At Imola, the 24-year-old finished an impressive fourth, thanks in large part to a remarkable opening lap during which Russell gained five positions while Hamilton was left pinned down in the midfield where he would remain all afternoon.
The contrast in performance between the two Mercedes drivers in Italy has led some to claim that Russell has already gained the upper hand over Hamilton.
But Hill doesn't believe that's the case, although the 1996 F1 world champion is impressed with Russell's efforts.
"He’s done an absolutely brilliant job and is looking strong," Hill said on the F1 Nation podcast.
"I think Lewis has been a little unlucky and I think he’s been delving around and [has] been happy to play the guy who tries the experimental setup for Mercedes a bit because he’s got more experience with them.
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"So perhaps he’s gone the wrong way sometimes and that has made him look worse off than he really is against George, but George is definitely doing a sterling job – and I think that’s a very firm foundation for him going forward.
"He’s not humiliated Lewis in any way, I don’t think. I don’t see it like that, I think Lewis is maybe a little bit downhearted as well, and George is very keen to establish himself."
Despite Mercedes' problems, Hill isn't inclined to write off the German outfit, at least not yet, suggesting that a break through in performance for its Silver Arrow is possible.
"Would you completely rule out Mercedes? I mean, they’ve got a lot to think about but, perhaps, they could throw themselves into the pot," Hill said.
"They again have even less resources that they can use because they’ve had so much success, so they’re actually on the limit almost with how much development, wind tunnel, all the rest of it, they can do and financial resources.
"They’re almost a second off the pace, but that’s because they can’t get their car low enough, and they can’t get their car low enough because of this porpoising."
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