Russell fears Ferrari: “Hamilton is a huge threat to us”

F1 Austria, Russell applauds Hamilton Among the participants of the Austrian GP press conference there were neither Lewis Hamilton nor any Ferrari representative. Which, however, were equally protagonists of Thursday in Spielberg. The victory in Barcelona, ​​the first not obtained by Mercedes in the 2026 World Championship, triggered the classic alarm bell in Brackley, to the point that team principal Toto Wolff will think about the team orders if Hamilton appears again in the mirrors of the W16s also at the Red Bull Ring. Speaking about Hamilton and Ferrari was George Russell, who praised the seven-time world champion and his growth in recent months, defining him as an absolute threat for the title. Russell’s words “First of all it’s nice to see Lewis back doing what he does best, but I think this shows how demanding Formula 1 is: the cars, the power units, the tires are so complex that everything has to fit together in the right way; if one aspect doesn’t, you can’t get the most out of yourself”, this was Russell’s comment in the press conference of the Austrian GP. “People were already starting to write him off last year or even the year before: in 2024 we were teammates and I always saw how passionate he was. In the last 4-5 races he has shown that you don’t forget to ride from one day to the next, but everything needs to be in harmony.” “Lewis is definitely a huge threat to us at the moment. Kimi is the driver who is ahead of everyone, by a good margin, and is driving at an incredible level with great consistency, but Ferrari is also coming and Lewis is attacking,” he added. “Ferrari has always had a great chassis, while on the engine side they have been a lot behind us. However, it seems that in Barcelona they have also taken a step forward in terms of top speed. They are also bringing a lot of updates and it was surprising for us, because they and McLaren have them every other race, while we have only brought one package. But since our karting days we have been used to fighting against more than one driver, so this challenge excites me.”

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-26 00:00:00