George Russell details how his relationship with Lewis Hamilton has changed

George Russell has opened up on his relationship with Lewis Hamilton now they are no longer teammates in F1.

Russell partnered Hamilton at Mercedes in 2022 following his promotion from Williams and the pair remained teammates until the seven-time world champion’s bombshell decision to join Ferrari for 2025.

Despite no longer sharing the same garage, Russell explained that he and Hamilton are “tighter” than ever before and revealed they even travel to F1 races together on occasions.

“If anything, it's even gotten a little tighter. We sometimes fly together, even off-track talk to each other more often,” Russell told MotorsportTotal.com.

“We just have a good relationship. Lewis is someone whose company I really appreciate. Of course, he is extremely in the spotlight, more than all of us - and sometimes a protective shield goes up.

“But in a familiar setting, he's someone I get along with really well. It's nice to have someone like him, someone I also ask for advice from time to time because he is in a completely different phase of his career.”

George Russell on beating Lewis Hamilton

During their three-season spell as teammates at Mercedes, Russell finished ahead of Hamilton in the standings in 2022 and 2024, as well as regularly out-qualifying the now 40-year-old Briton.

Asked what it says about him that he was able to beat Hamilton, Russell replied: “I’ll leave that to your assessment. I just drive, week after week.

“I've always said that I'm not afraid of being someone's teammate. At the end of 2021, Lewis was the hottest stock in the field.

“No one would have thought that someone at Mercedes could beat him as a teammate. I came in and performed from the first race. I always believed in myself.”

"The reputation he had is the same one Max has now. No one believes that Max is beatable. And the same was thought about Lewis back then.

“People forget that Lewis came into Formula 1 as a rookie - and was on the podium every time in his first six races [nine], with a two-time world champion as teammate. That says a lot.”