Lewis Hamilton defends Mercedes team-mate George Russell and calls for ‘support not negativity’

Lewis Hamilton stands up for his team-mate and Mercedes after online conspiracy theories over the reason for George Russell’s 2024 qualifying dominance; watch every session of Spanish GP live on Sky Sports F1, with qualifying on Saturday at 3pm and race on Sunday at 2pm

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George Russell believes the Spanish, Austrian, and the British GP will help Mercedes see the true performance of the car

Lewis Hamilton has defended team-mate George Russell from criticism on social media and says Mercedes need “support not negativity” from fans.

In what is Hamilton’s final season at his long-time Brackley team before his blockbuster switch for 2025 to Ferrari, Russell holds an 8-1 lead in their qualifying head-to-head and is 14 points clear of the seven-time champion in the championship standings after the season’s first nine rounds.

Russell’s dominance in qualifying in particular has caught the eye and led to wild conspiracy theories on social media alleging favouritism towards the younger Briton, who is staying at the team for 2025.

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Asked about those claims and recent social media abuse directed at Russell, Hamilton stood up for both his team-mate and Mercedes.

“I think they know if you look over the years, we’ve always been a strong team. We’ve always worked really hard together,” said Hamilton, speaking in Mercedes’ Thursday press conference sitting alongside Russell ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

“I think it’s easy to get emotional. But I think it’s always… I even commented in the last race, for example, just about my performance.

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Lewis Hamilton described his fourth-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix as one of the ‘worst races he’s driven’

“I think we need support, not negativity, and I wasn’t actually aware that George was experiencing negativity.

“George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and is delivering for the team, so he can’t be faulted at all.

“Of course, there can always be things done better within the team, and that comes through conversation, through communication, and that’s something that we are consistently working on.

“But we’re all in the same boat. We’re all working hard together. We want to finish on a high and feel that we owe that to our long-term relationship that we’ve had.”

Sitting alongside Hamilton, Russell said: “I have a team that looks after my social media. I don’t look on Instagram or Twitter to be honest.

“(The comments) are not something I have seen. I have heard about it, and it is never nice to hear, but that is the world we live in at the moment and unfortunately any person in the public eye is facing it.

“Social media is a double-edged sword. You see funny things and it keeps you up to date, but on the flip side, everybody in the limelight receives negativity.”

Russell reflects on Canada errors and explains ‘risk’

This weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix takes place two weeks after easily Mercedes’ most competitive showing of their difficult season so far in Canada, when Russell qualified on pole and contended for the race win.

The Briton’s bid for a first victory for the team since November 2022 was ultimately undone by several mistakes, with a frustrated Russell critical of his driving in the aftermath of the race after finishing third.

“I was very upset with myself Sunday night, Monday morning,” reflected Russell.

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Russell apologised on the team radio after having an ‘ugly race’ which saw the Mercedes driver start on pole and finish third at the Canadian Grand Prix

“It was when I watched the race back, I was reminded how tricky it was there and I could have easily not made any of those mistakes if I’d turned down the risk dial and drove a tenth a lap slower for 70 laps.

“But if I drove a tenth of a lap slower for 70 laps, I probably wouldn’t have been in that position in the first place.

“In 2022, I don’t think I was pushing myself as much as I am now and I didn’t make any mistakes really throughout the course of the whole season.

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Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Damon Hill believes Mercedes should back Russell more

“Now I’m really, really pushing myself because I want to get that victory for the team. If I was fighting for a championship, I probably wouldn’t be pushing myself or risking that much during these races.

“But right now we’re not fighting for the championship, we had half a chance of victory and I went above and beyond to achieve it, and probably too far.”

Can Mercedes stay in contention at the front in Spain?

Mercedes and their improving W15 car now face what Russell admits is a “real test” at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya this weekend – a circuit that features higher-speed, sweeping corners and rewards aerodynamic efficiency.

“It’s very exciting ahead of this weekend because ahead of Canada we were driving on the simulator trying these new upgrades and it seemed to be a big step forward,” said Russell.

Sourse: skysports.com