George Russell and Lewis Hamilton spent three seasons as Mercedes team-mates before the seven-time world champion’s exit for Ferrari, and the legendary Brit passed on some priceless information
George Russell has revealed the biggest lesson he learned from former team-mate Lewis Hamilton – that ‘winning comes first’, above everything else. Mercedes ’ star driver has matured into a capable team leader since the seven-time world champion’s exit last winter.
Russell kept Hamilton honest during their three years as Mercedes team-mates, and with Kimi Antonelli stepping into the 40-year-old’s shoes as a teenager at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the onus has been on the Norfolk-born driver to take his performances to the next level.
This, he has done. With six races remaining in the 2025 season, Russell is the only driver aside from Max Verstappen and the McLaren duo to have won a Grand Prix, taking to the top step of the podium in Montreal and Singapore.
In doing so, he has utilised a key lesson taught to him by his former team-mate. “And of course, there was a GOAT sitting right next to me for many years in my career that had a massive impact on my mindset as well,” Russell wrote in a lengthy, introspective article for The Players’ Tribune.
“I won’t lie, it all came as a bit of a surprise with Lewis leaving for Ferrari. I won’t speak for him, but I’ve sometimes wondered if within himself he could ever fully appreciate what he’s achieved in F1 because his vision is so much greater, further, and higher. Like, he’s aspiring to Michael Jordan, and from a sporting perspective, he’s achieved it.
“But the way Lewis’s mind works, it’s like, ‘Has Jordan been more successful commercially?’ Or, maybe another person has had a bigger social impact. His definition of greatness just keeps growing. But the biggest thing I learned from Lewis, I guess, is that the winning comes first.
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“Then everything else. Now, he’s given himself the ultimate gift … The gift of choice. And that’s what I want one day. I’m trying to build a structural foundation for the future to ensure that when I’m 35, 36, closing in on 40, that it’s on me to decide if I want to continue in Formula One or not.
“That it’s not because my performance has dropped or I can’t deal with the travel anymore or the time zone shifts. That will eventually happen. But you don’t fall off a cliff, right? You tail off. And nobody knows if you’re tailing off at 27, at 30, at 35, at 40.”
Russell’s F1 journey will continue with Mercedes into the new technical regulation period. The Brit signed a new multi-year contract worth in the region of £30million per season ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.