George Russell has admitted that Mercedes are ‘trying to understand’ why the Briton and Lewis Hamilton were never on the same pace during the 2023 Formula 1 season.
The 25-year-old is also eager to figure the reason out himself so Russell can match Hamilton next year. He found it perplexing how the Mercedes teammates were often so far apart over the races. Yet the pair ended the campaign having both out-qualified the other at 11 rounds.
Mercedes were the only team in 2023 where neither driver won their head-to-head battle in qualifying. The next-nearest driver pairing over a single lap amongst those to contest the full season were Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. Gasly won their all-French fight 14-8.
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty ImagesGeorge Russell and Lewis Hamilton had Formula 1’s closest qualifying head-to-head record in 2023
Hamilton and Russell’s average qualifying position was also almost identical at 6.36 and 6.50 respectively this year. Both drivers also made Q3 at 18 of the 22 races, with Hamilton exiting after Q2 four times and Russell exiting after Q1 once. Hamilton also took pole position once.
July’s Hungarian GP yielded Hamilton and Mercedes’ only pole position of the season, while Russell finished down in just P18. The King’s Lynn native felt hampered by traffic around the Hungaroring during one of the race weekends where F1 had the ‘Alternative Tyre Allocation’.
Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images
Russell’s best qualifying results were all second places across the Australian, Singapore and Qatar Grand Prix. He also only matched Hamilton in the head-to-head battle at the last race. Hamilton would only qualify P11 for the season-ending Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s end-of-season plight further helped to see Mercedes finish 2023 with the closest average qualifying gap between two teammates. Russell and the 38-year-old ended the year with a 0.020-second gap. Alpine duo Gasly and Ocon were the next-closest pairing at 0.075.
Russell had the marginal edge over Hamilton for their 0.020-second split. But Mercedes and their drivers are keen to understand why Russell and Hamilton would then be so far apart in the races. Hamilton won the Grand Prix head-to-head 15-7 and scored 234 points over 175.
“It’s definitely something we’ve noticed,” Russell admitted, via quotes by the Express. “Lewis and I, over the course of the year, I don’t think we’ve ever been at the same pace.
“Over the last few years, our qualifying record is almost the same. But it’s either one driver is six-tenths ahead of the other. So, it’s something we’re trying to understand. I think often when you’re slightly on the backfoot as a driver, you’re chasing to close that gap.
“Sometimes in doing so, you take a step backwards rather than actually close that gap. It’s something I’m trying to figure out myself and I’m sure he’s trying to figure out, as well.”
