“Pretty stupid” to bet against Hamilton & Mercedes in F1 title race - Russell

Hamilton enjoyed one of his strongest weekends to date in Brazil, recovering from the back of the grid to finish fifth in the sprint.

The seven-time champion’s scintillating form continued on Sunday, going from 10th to third in a matter of laps, before overtaking Max Verstappen for the race lead to claim his first win since Russia.

Ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, Russell was asked about his future teammate’s performance in Brazil.

“I’ve been saying it for a long, long time, when Max and Red Bull seem to have the upper hand, I think it would be pretty stupid to bet against Lewis and Mercedes,” Russell said.

“I think last weekend and recent races has proven just that. The fact they’re still in this fight is pretty exceptional and obviously what Lewis did last week was also exceptional.

“Excited to be racing alongside Lewis next year and it will be a great opportunity for me.”

Williams’ form has dipped in recent races as both Russell and teammate Nicholas Latifi were knocked out in Q1 in Sao Paulo.

Russell is hopeful that the Losail circuit will be more suited to the Williams car.

“I think we’ve definitely dropped off a little bit but I would say if you looked at the season as a whole those last two races wouldn’t have suited our car, the natural characteristics it has but we do hope that this will play slightly in our favour,” he said.

“Nevertheless we’re going into this circuit, new challenges, teams having to learn, drivers having to learn and I think there will be a lot of unknowns for us all so just being alive to the situation, making sure you’re not going in with too many preconceived ideas and making sure you’re able to adapt will be the key to this weekend.”