Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari are giving George Russell cause for concern

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton spoke highly of his former teammate and current rival Lewis Hamilton during a press conference ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix: “First of all, it’s great to see Lewis back doing what he does best, but I think this shows just how demanding Formula 1 is.”

“Everything has to fall into place; if one aspect doesn’t, you can’t get the most out of yourself. 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’s shown that you don’t just forget how to drive overnight.”

According to Russell, “Lewis is definitely a huge threat to us. Kimi is the driver leading the pack by a comfortable margin, and he’s driving at an incredible level with great consistency, but Ferrari is catching up too, and Lewis is on the attack.”

The Scuderia’s progress is worrying the Englishman: “It seems that in Barcelona they’ve also taken a step forward in terms of top speed. They’re also bringing quite a few updates, and that’s been surprising for us, because they and McLaren have them every other race, while we’ve only brought one package.”