Lewis versus George

‘Now that George is faster than Lewis…’ says Andrew on this week’s podcast. Watch the video on YouTube closely enough and you might just see me bristle. Is George Russell really faster than Lewis Hamilton? Am I just too much of a Lewis fanboy to see it?

In one very clear and obvious sense, Andrew is absolutely right. Russell out-qualified Hamilton 19-5 this year, dunking (as they say) on his illustrious teammate every bit as hard as did Fernando Alonso on Lance Stroll. Case closed. Lewis, George is faster than you. Please confirm you have understood this message.

There is a more nuanced view. There’s no doubt Russell was faster over a single lap than Hamilton in the 2024 Mercedes, the W15. Not even a Lewis acolyte like me will try to deny that. But until the start of the season just gone, Hamilton was ahead of Russell in their qualifying head-to-head 24-20 after two full seasons, during which time they’d collected the same number of pole positions – one apiece. Until 11 months ago, Saturdays just about belonged to car #44.