Formula 1: We'll see more of Hamilton's magic, predicts Russell

Jeddah, April 18 (IANS) Mercedes driver George Russell feels that his former teammate and seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton will deliver more magic in the ongoing season as he continues to get to grips with his new car at Ferrari. After ending his 12-year partnership with Mercedes, Hamilton has begun a new chapter with Scuderia this season and is still getting to grips with the SF-25. His best race finish so far has been P5 in Bahrain.

However, there was a standout moment when the Briton claimed victory in the season’s first Sprint in Shanghai -- a performance Russell believes showcased exactly what Hamilton is capable of.

When asked during the media day ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix about how he views Hamilton’s time at Ferrari so far, Russell responded: “I don’t really know, to be honest. After Fernando (Alonso), he’s the most experienced driver on the grid, a seven-time World Champion, and he’s an incredible person and racing driver.

“We saw it in China, second race of the season, on pole in the Sprint, wins the race comfortably. I know what he’s capable of, and it’s not easy going into a new team and the competition is tough, but he’s an amazing driver and I’m sure, when things start to click, as they did in China, we’ll see more of that magic.”

Reflecting on his own season so far, Russell is satisfied with his performance, having secured podium finishes in three of the first four races. Mercedes currently sit second in the Constructors’ Championship behind McLaren, though they trail by 58 points.

That said, Russell admits some of those chances may have resulted from occasional mistakes by McLaren, who are still widely regarded as the team to beat in the season.

“My aspirations are to fight for the World Championship and, being realistic, we don’t have a car to fight McLaren. They could probably have finished first and second in every race this year, but they’ve given the rest of us a few opportunities,” Russell said.

“Myself and Max (Verstappen) have jumped on the podium probably one too many times because of a few little errors, and we’ll take it, but I don’t imagine those errors continuing for 24 races.”

Looking back on his drive to P2 last time out in Bahrain, Russell suggested that he expects a tougher fight from the Silver Arrows’ competitors during the weekend ahead in Jeddah.

“It was a great race, great weekend [in Bahrain],” the 27-year-old said. “It was sort of the validation we needed from the car going to a totally different track.

“A lot of tyre overheating versus the easy degradation of Suzuka and China to see (whether) we have built a more rounded car, and we clearly have. But I expect this weekend, still, the competition to be tough.

“Red Bull had an off weekend – I expect them to be fast here, similar to Suzuka, because there are some similarities with the high-speed, smooth tarmac. But then again, we’ve got the softest compound of tyres which is also good, it’s what we’ve been chasing for a little while, (I’m) really happy to see Pirelli bringing that forward.”

--IANS

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