F1 legend notes Lewis Hamilton’s “shock” after George Russell “prioritised” by Mercedes

F1 legend Juan Pablo Montoya believes a shift in team dynamics following Lewis Hamilton's decision to join Ferrari ahead of last year meant that Mercedes prioritised George Russell “all season”.

In 2025, Hamilton will enter a new era, as he will race for Ferrari after 12 years at Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion moves to Maranello following his weakest F1 season to date.

While Hamilton claimed two victories, he was comprehensively out-performed by teammate Russell, particularly in qualifying, where Hamilton was only able to topple Russell on five occasions.

Hamilton’s poor form led him to question whether he still has the speed to compete at the top of F1.

Montoya, who raced in F1 throughout the early 2000s, is adamant that the “right environment” at Ferrari will help bring out the best in Hamilton.

“The right environment will help Lewis Hamilton to get back to his best, especially in qualifying,” Montoya told Crash.net via CasinoApps.

“Hamilton had a shock last year, he went from everything being built around him and getting what he needed, to whatever George Russell wanted from Mercedes. The team knew the future lay with Russell, so they prioritised him all season, not Hamilton.

“Now, the attention to detail on Hamilton’s car at Ferrari will be a lot better and any problems he may have will be solved as quickly as Russell’s problems were last season.”

Hamilton continues Ferrari preparation

After a historic first week at Maranello, Hamilton’s preparation for the new season with Ferrari continues with a second test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Hamilton will be in action later this week alongside teammate Charles Leclerc.

After missing the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton will be on the back foot relative to Carlos Sainz at Williams, who got two days of running.

With older cars' testing restricted this year, Hamilton will have limited mileage ahead of next month’s pre-season test in Bahrain.