Russell pleased with Hamilton: 'Feels like we are in this together'

When Mercedes announced Russell's switch to Mercedes, expectations were that he would be no match for Hamilton in his first season. Nothing was further from the truth, however, as the seven-time world champion had to work hard to match Russell's performance. Moreover, Russell managed to take the only Mercedes victory of the year in Brazil.

Russell happy with collaboration Hamilton

However, it did not cause friction in Toto Wolff's team. Hamilton and Russell continued to help each other behind the scenes, ensuring that Mercedes could be reasonably happy in the closing stages of the season. According to Russell, however, the situation was different than expected.

"If you are fighting for one-twos there will be a slightly different dynamic and that’s only natural," he revealed. "But I think the thing we have going for us is the fact that we are at very different stages of our career. It kind of feels like we are in this together, really."

"We’ve got no reason to have conflict. We have got a good relationship. We need to give each other respect, and I think we gave each other respect in Mexico, as an example. We recognise the importance of that within the whole team. If our relationship starts to break up, it’s going to have an impact on the team and ultimately it’s going to go full circle and affect us as well."