Mercedes explain how George Russell has taken on the role of team leader

Mercedes has praised George Russell for stepping into the role of team leader this year after the departure of seven-time world F1 champion Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari.

Mercedes enjoyed most of its F1 success in the V6 hybrid era with Hamilton, with the Briton leading the team to eight consecutive constructors’ titles between 2014 and ‘21.

While Russell compared favourably against Hamilton after his promotion to the Brackley-based squad in 2022, the three-time grand prix winner has had to take a much bigger responsibility this year.

Not only does he need to fill in the shoes of its former star driver Hamilton, but act as a benchmark for teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the other side of the garage.

Based on the evidence so far, the 27-year-old has risen to the challenge, clinching back-to-back podiums in Australia and China and scoring another strong haul of points in Japan.

But it’s not only his impressive results on tracks that have earned him plaudits from Mercedes’ trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin, who feels he is now more calm and confident than ever before, while also pushing the squad for better results.

“It's inevitably going to change when you've got an experienced driver like George and then a rookie like Kimi,” Shovlin said of the dynamics within the team. “So those two are working together, and George is trying to give him the benefit of his experience.

“I would say that George has stepped up into that role, being the team's most experienced driver now.

“We always knew he was quick, but in his own approach, he has brought confidence and a calmness this year that's working very well for us.

“You look at that race in Melbourne. George was communicating really well with us as to what the weather was doing and what he was feeling in the car. We were using a lot of that information to copy the strategy onto Kimi’s side because, for Kimi, a lot of it was new.

“But it’s really pleasing to see how the two of them are working together, and how George has stepped up into that role.

Shovlin added: “He just seems to be very relaxed in his position in the team now and he's just going about getting the points, trying to qualify as well as he can. He's pushing us hard to improve and he's doing a lot of work himself.”

Russell’s early run of form is also giving Mercedes a chance to assess the performance of its protege Antonelli, who is touted to be the team’s next star.

Antonelli tallied up 30 points in the opening three rounds of the season, compared to 45 for Russell, achieving a best result of fifth in the rain-hit season opener in Australia.

“With Kimi, we’re measuring him by where he is compared to George, where he is compared to the other drivers in the top teams,” Sholvin said.

“The big [difference] is George has been to this track many times. He knows his way around it.

“You could see straight off in P1 that he’s pushing the car and putting it on the limit, and Kimi is deliberately stepping into that because he knows the worst thing for your weekend is you lose part of a session or you damage the car, and it just sets you back, a) in the learning but also in your confidence.

“So he's having to structure his weekends with [Pete] Bono [Bonington] to sort of close that gap through the course of it.

“There isn’t one area where it’s different. George just has a lot of experience — and obviously a lot of natural talent as well — and the big thing that Kimi is lacking is the experience.”