What Russell's current Mercedes form ahead of Hamilton means for his F1 future

OPINION: It would not have taken much for Mercedes to have had a very different weekend at Imola, even if a podium was always out of reach. As it was, George Russell led the line for the Silver Arrows, far ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Here’s how he got there and why such troubled times may benefit both team and younger driver in the years to come

Author Alex Kalinauckas

Updated Apr 27, 2022, 4:04 PM

Tiny things can swing a Formula 1 race weekend.

A slippery grid spot, a snatched brake lapping a backmarker, running over debris from another car. All of those have cost Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas dearly at Imola in the three races since the Italian track returned to the calendar in 2020. Leclerc’s bad grand prix getaway last Sunday was just the first of two bits of bad misfortune, the second all his own fault…

Consider the Mercedes team in the same event. It would only have taken a few things going slightly differently and its whole weekend may well have been altogether rosier.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.