He finished fourth in the drivers’ standings with 275 points – two places and 25 points behind his more respected partner. Having struggled with pig hunting trouble for most of the campaign, Hamilton failed to record a race win in a single season for the first time in his career.
But neither driver came close to matching the pace set by Red Bull and eventual world champion Max Verstappen. The Dutchman dominated the campaign, winning 15 out of 22 races and helping his team end Mercedes’ streak of eight consecutive constructors’ titles.
Hamilton was known to have difficult relationships with teammates who competed closely with him, most notably Nico Rosberg. But Russell denied any idea of tension between the two, insisting his victory in Sao Paulo far outweighed his standings.
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“For me, that win in Brazil was more important than the points classification,” Russell told Auto Motor und Sport. “At the end of the day, nobody remembers that I beat Lewis on points. I only finished fourth, so land.”
But Russell also insisted he wasn’t satisfied with his inaugural year at Mercedes, where the Silver Arrows had much higher expectations: “If someone had offered me a win, a pole position and eight podiums a year ago, I would have said: No thanks.” “My ambition and that of the team are much higher than what we’ve achieved.”
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