Hakkinen: 'Brilliant' Russell can keep Hamilton behind

Two-time F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen believes that George Russell can build at the start of this season on the momentum he enjoyed at the end of last year, and fend off Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Despite the aerodynamic issues that weighed on Mercedes' performance in the first half of the 2022 season, Russell was a model of consistency, the Briton never finishing lower than fifth in the first nine races of his maiden campaign with the Brackley squad.

However, as the team progressively managed to get on top of its car's porpoising problems, Hamilton regained his footing during the summer.

But in the penultimate round of the season in Brazil, Russell was in a league of his own, winning the event's sprint event on Saturday and repeating the feat in Sunday's Grand Prix.

It was a master class performance that impressed Hakkinen and one that bodes well for Russell's 2023 prospects.

"What he did in Brazil, it was brilliant," he said. "The team has improved the car massively, so they can win races. Is he able to continue that trend?

"If he can keep with that experience what he has in Mercedes, and experience what he has in Formula 1 in general, he can keep Lewis behind. It’s really impressive.

"Because Lewis is incredible. Incredible personality, incredible driver. So if George can go for it, then I think England can look like ‘Wow, what a driver we have."

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Russell boasted a winning track record during his formative years in motorsport, winning the GP3 title and the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Hakkinen has no doubts that Russell has all the qualities required to carry him one day to the world title in Formula 1.

"The list is unbelievably long when you start fine-tuning every aspect of being a racing driver," Hakkinen explained. "But he has already a massively long career behind him.

"Talking about karting, all those other categories, and his knowledge of data, his capabilities handling the car in extreme situations…

"I am confident he has all the potential to be a great driver, potentially becoming a World Champion."

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