Valtteri Bottas has praised how George Russell has performed so far as teammate to Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Russell replaced Bottas at the Silver Arrows for the 2022 season, as the Finn's five-year stint at the squad came to an end. Throughout his time at the team, Bottas raced alongside Hamilton, but was never able to finish ahead of the Briton in the standings. As such, he has been impressed by how Russell has fared against the seven-time World Champion, with the younger driver currently ahead in the World Championship. "I think George has done great, as expected," Bottas told media, including RacingNews365.com , when asked what he had made of Russell's performance so far. "Especially as I know myself how tricky it is to beat Lewis, so yeah, he's been doing a good job."
Russell hopes to beat everyone, including teammate
As for Russell himself, the former Williams driver acknowledges that he is keen to beat everyone in the field, and that includes Hamilton. "I think as drivers you want to finish ahead of everybody, of course, and that includes your teammate," he explained. "I knew the challenge I faced ahead of the season, going up against Lewis, and I've seen first-hand just how great he is." Russell believes that he has been on a good run of form which has helped him in the inter-team battle, though admits that this can soon change. "I think in any sport you often get into a bit of a groove and a bit of a rhythm, and things seemingly go for you or seemingly go against you, and I think I obviously had quite a good run," he continued. "Those first nine races I'd say we're pretty good, maybe eight races. The last two races have been a bit more tricky for me, of course. "But [I'm] glad to be back to just try and get back on that run this weekend in Austria, but yeah, I think we've seen in the last couple of races just how fast Lewis is."
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