why people hate George Russell

George Russell is one of the most hated men in F1, but is this warranted? People have said that he should defer to Lewis Hamilton be less bossy with Mercedes over the team radio? But all Mercedes driver George Russell has ever wanted to be is an F1 Driver. Isn't he just being an F1 Driver and trying to win a race, himself, every race weekend? Is George Russell not just an F1 Driver, F1 Driving? We look at Saudi Arabian GP team orders, Brazilian GP strategy, George Russell interviews and analsyse them to seewhether George Russell is a saint or an F1 sinner? Is the criticism of George Russell valid? Or are we expecting something from George Russell that he doesn't owe to anyone? Is he the competitive team mate Lewis Hamilton needs or could his relentless drive to win, be the cause of instability in the Mercedes AMG Petronas driver pairing?
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[DefenderOfLogic]

All I can say is Hamilton needs to return the favor. I feel that Hamilton is afraid of being labeled a jerk if he asserts his dominance and leverages his seniority. So he tries to play the teammate role. Lewis must return to his former self and not give a shit what anyone thinks. George is not his team mate.

[generaldreagonlps]

The biggest problem with Russell isn't what he does. It's his attitude.

[roddsegovia]

I started to dislike him when he crashed into
Bottas at imola and blamed the crash on him and then pushed his helmet before checking if he was ok

[Bahamuttiamat]

Balanced take and in full agreement. George isn't bottas. He isn't our mascot. He's here to win and win for HIMSELF. Can't blame him and neither should you. It issues resides in some members of teamlh erroneous expectations. Lewis knows the game well, it's up to him to respond accordingly.

[edijzerman]

I am no fan of George but in my eyes he is smart boy and nows how to interact with the team

[roddsegovia]

I lost a lot of respect for George after he got frustrated with Mick for defending his position.
George acted like Mick should've let him through, while Mick was fighting for a seat 🤷🏽‍♂️

[BlazR]

I’ve absolutely loved watching George race through the junior ranks and even loved his determination at Williams. In 2022 he was liked by almost everyone for being consistent.
In 2023 it’s just been the opposite for him you know, he’s had a big ego and attitude change which makes him very dislikable right now..

[joepzenz]

Biggest problem is TeamLH got used to that Bottas’ sheep mentality. George is a Wolf in sheep’s clothing. He is all about finishing in the best position he can. All of the greats are selfish. Lewis, Max, Seb, Michael, Senna Alonso.. the list goes on

[BD]

The team game for most Lewis fans means: do whatever benefits *Lewis*. That's all it boils down to for them. Their expectations for George are clear, do everything and anything that benefits Lewis, even if he screws himself over. Zandvoort was a great example of this. Lewis was overtaken immediately on the old mediums, yet people believe George would have held Verstappen up to help Lewis win... How does that work?!... He made the only right call in that moment, and helped the team to score P2 and P4 instead of P3 and P4. It was the team's mistake that they didn't pit both of them.

George has not only the speed, but the intellect of a champion (to me he's better than the likes of Leclerc or Norris). But the fact that he is competitive and ruthless like many of the greats, does not diminish the "right" things he says in the media. The two can co-exist. He's never badmouthed the team or Lewis. He can praise Lewis, and at the same time be competitive. He's always been clear that he wants to beat his teammate (which for many clueless f1 "fans" is enough to brand him a snake....), and he should not be expected to roll over and give up for no particular reason.

A lot of the protection doesn't reflect well on Lewis either. He is one of the greats for a reason. Let him compete and fight. Let him earn those positions. He is much stronger than some people pretend.

[TommoMcCluskey]

You make a compelling case my friend, superbly put together video as per. 👏

[brianackerman]

The first rule for an F1 driver is, beat your teammate.

[stevemcdowell]

The videos you make like this are great Cam. The GR/LH story is gonna be 🍿, I’d love a movie to be made on this. But even as a MV fan I want to see LH win the 8th

[ricky_]

Lewis needs to go back to when he joined F1 and stop worrying about being a great teammate!

[OrdinaryWorld]

I was surprised by the Driver of the Day votes from Spain. Russell did a great job and yet he way way down on the vote. Until then, I'd never really thought that he might be an unpopular character. If that is the case, then I don't really understand it. The only "silly" thing that George has really done was the incident with Bottas but that's something he later took responsibility for. Nah, I don't get it?

[throwaway]

This video aged liked milk. GR63 is no WDC. He hasn’t gotten the nerve for it. Too aggressive too late into his career. The number of crashes he has had in the only three seasons at Mercedes is abysmal. Yet he whines about it. At least Verstappen was aggressive and good.

By no means a LH fan. He is also whiny but at least LH performs clinically and consistently well on track. (Or at least he did until the regulation change)

[BruceLee-kyqz]

The thing is, Lewis has always let his talent and driving do the talking and he's had the car for most of his career to do it. Lewis knew Bottas could never outpace him in equal machinery and Bottas eventually accepted that. For the first time since 2016 Lewis's greatest challenge might be his teammate. Lewis and Mercedes knows by now who George is. Can Sir Lewis rise once again and claim his 8th title in a competitive car? Experience is on his side.

[MotebangMokoena]

just had to come back and watch this again after the Singapore race.

[lukenoonan]

George grew up watching SLH win, he looked up to him. If George even wants to come close to achieving even a quater of what Lewis has achieved, he has to be selfish. It was what Lewis was like when he had his debut with Mclaren and was the team mate of another familiar champion.
Provided they dont hinder eachother or come together, I'm cool with them pushing eachother.

[FrankyBoy]

Hate is a bad thing.
In fact hate can be self-destructive.
So, it it stupid to hate someone...
Max Verstappen had (and has) his disagreements with George Russell, but he doesn't hate him.
After the last incident, both were seen laughing together and talking to each other.

[maureenmucureezi]

George is here to win. Lewis has to fight his corner..