George Russell has blasted Lewis Hamilton for “talking nonsense” as the pair prepare for the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend.
After qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier this month, the seven-time world champion claimed he was “absolutely useless” in a dejected interview after a poor opening half of the season for the Briton.
Hamilton has not had the start he would have liked at Ferrari.
He has yet to claim a main race podium and has only seen success in the sprint in China with a pole and sprint win.
Lewis Hamilton was very critical of his performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix
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Former teammate George Russell believes the 40-year-old’s comments need to be taken with a pinch of salt, revealing: “Yeah, of course he's talking nonsense when he says something like that, because he's the greatest driver of all time, I think,
"You know, a situation like that when you go from the racetrack and you're in front of the media within 10 minutes, you have all of these emotions.
"When you have a bad day, that's how you feel. When you have a good day, everything changes and you know, he's still an exceptional driver, we saw he obviously won the sprint straight away at the start of the year in China.
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"He's clearly still got it, but Formula One is not an easy sport, and especially if the team is not performing at the highest level, that compounds the issue and of course, Charles [Leclerc] is an amazing driver too.”
The Ferrari driver heads into the Dutch Grand Prix 42 points behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc, with a few headline races for him to come in Scuderia colours.
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Charles Leclerc is a long way ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the drivers championship
| GettyFormula 1 is making its penultimate trip to the iconic Zandvoort circuit this weekend, as the track is set to be removed from the calendar for 2026.
The track has been a happy hunting ground for Hamilton as he has performed well around the circuit in the past.
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He will be hoping for a second better half of the season, but regardless of results, the seven-time champion has revealed he will be making changes in the second half of the season.
He revealed: "I feel determined to, and motivated to [turn things around], I'm just going to work hard, keep our heads down, try to change a few things in our approach, and start to enjoy ourselves. There's been so much pressure [in] the first half of this season, it's not been the most enjoyable."
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have remained good friends
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Russell concluded by saying: “So I think right now, 14 races down, probably every driver bar two (Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri) are looking forward to 2026 and for a fresh opportunity to fight for a championship and for someone like Lewis, you know, that's what he sort of lives for, not just, you know, getting into [the] points.”
The drivers will take to the track for the first time since the summer break as drivers aim to try to break the McLaren dominance throughout the first half of the season.