F1 rivals back Russell to make Hamilton’s life “very difficult” at Mercedes

Russell is widely expected to be confirmed as Hamilton’s new Mercedes team-mate for next season in the near future, with Valtteri Bottas favourite to join Alfa Romeo as Kimi Raikkonen’s replacement.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has tipped Russell to make Hamilton’s life “very difficult” given his consistently impressive performances for Williams and his showing for Mercedes at Sakhir last year when he came close to winning on debut when he acted as Hamilton’s stand-in.

“If he joins then for sure he will make it very difficult for Lewis,” Verstappen said ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.

“He jumped into the car in Bahrain and basically from Lap 1 he was making it very difficult for Valtteri, so you can only imagine the more experience you gain in that car and the more you get accustomed within the team, naturally you’re going to get faster.

“When you do your first race you’re guided by the team about setup direction because you just don’t know what to do really, initially, with the car.

“I remember my first race at Red Bull, the thing I said was is that we will just follow a bit what Daniel is doing because I have no clue about what this car needs to go quick because even though F1 cars look pretty similar, the way of setting them up can be very different.

“I am very confident - already what you could see with the performance he did in Spa was really good. Of course, they set up the car a bit more for wet conditions but nevertheless to do that in a Williams was very impressive. I do expect him to do very well if he gets that seat.”

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who was a former karting rival of Russell, also backed the British driver to flourish at Mercedes.

“I have actually been teammates with George for a year in karting and I think what I have seen of him since that time, is just that he is extremely talented,” Leclerc said.

“Every time he gets into the car he just quick straightaway, so his talent makes him special.

“If he goes to Mercedes next year, and I hope he does because I think he deserves a chance there, I’m pretty sure he will perform very, very well and impress more than one person.”

Meanwhile, Nicholas Latifi stressed his current Williams teammate’s abilities go beyond the ‘Mr Saturday’ reputation he has earned due to his stunning qualifying displays over the past two-and-a-half seasons.

“Obviously being teammates with him in recent times I know exactly how quick he is,” Latifi explained. “To the public, obviously, the Saturday performances are something that is quite standout.

“I obviously see from behind the scenes on the data how quick he is in those scenarios. But I think besides the raw speed he has, his ability to always put everything together on that crucial moment on that lap that counts is very impressive.

“But even besides the ‘Mr. Saturday' tag, there’s a lot of things outside of qualifying, managing little details in the race, and a lot of peripheral things he’s very strong at.

“It’s quite impressive and I think if he does go to Mercedes, we already saw what he was capable of doing last year in Bahrain, so I have no doubt he’ll be on the pace straight away.”

Asked what he feels Russell’s greatest strength is, Latifi replied: “It’s difficult to highlight one thing in particular, to be honest. It’s just his ability to put it all together when it matters.”