A seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, will line-up alongside one of F1‘s up and coming, George Russell, as the 2022 season kicks off on March 18 in Bahrain. The Mercedes lineup, as exciting as it looks, is expected to see an intra-conflict before the two actually take on defending champ Max Verstappen od Redbull. 

Newcomer George Russell, who raced for Williams since 2019, replaced Valtteri Bottas. The Finnish driver played second fiddle to Hamilton for four years. However, the question is: Is being second best on Russell’s agenda?

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Lewis Hamilton’s absence from the Sakhir Grand Prix last year gave the Brit an oppotunity to make a memorable Silver Arrows debut. After getting off a dream start, Russell overtook Bottas quite early in the race to lead the GP. However, an incident during a pitstop, causing his front wing to come off, took away the momentum. A late puncture pushed him down the order to finish ninth. 

However, in 2022, he is going to have 23 chances to demonstrate his worth in arguably the best car on the grid. Russell will have the same equipment as one of the best in sport, Hamilton, will. 

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Anthony Davidson, Mercedes’ simulator driver, believes that the 23-year-old has the skillset to beat Hamilton. 

“It’s great to see, [Russell is] so full of energy and this is his big moment, isn’t it? His chance to step into, hopefully for his sake, a car that can run right at the sharp end and with Lewis Hamilton as your yard stick, the best in the business to measure yourself against,” he said during an appearance of a special edition of Sky Sports’ F1 Show .

“There’s nothing more that a driver like George wants than to go head to head with Lewis with the same equipment, and this is the time you can really see if you’re good enough.”

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Mercedes have had an reputation, which they have at numerous occassions denied, of playing a second driver to Hamilton. But in Russell, they see their future, like Redbull did with Verstappen. Hence, for him second-fiddle doesn’t sound like an option. 

On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton, who has not been beaten over a season by a teammate since 2016 (Nico Rosberg), is yet to get a confirmed place on the grid. Pained by the drama that unfolded in Abu Dhabi last year, the 37-year-old has made only one public appearance since. He is off social media and even Toto Wolff cannot confirm his participation status. 

However, for now, it is safe to assume that Hamilton will be back, some say ‘even stronger’.