Russell happy with career: 'Every weekend alongside best driver ever.

"Before the break I had two races where I was really off the pace, overthinking things, trying too hard to recover that performance, and then after the break I went in with an open mind and came out and it was probably the strongest I have ever been performing," Russel said. The Briton has learned that driving for one of the best teams is tough: "That is something I learned. It's never easy when you are in an environment like Formula One and the competition is so high and you are constantly being tested."

Russell faster than Hamilton

What is striking is that on average George Russell was 0.030 seconds faster over one lap. Why doesn't that pay off in better race results? "You want to test yourself against the best drivers in the world and having Lewis as my teammate is pretty privileged position to be in because I know every weekend I'm going up against one of the greatest ever," said Russell. He continued: "He's having more consistent race results, but I know if the pace is there those results come. I'm pleased with that as one aspect and I'm not too disappointed with this season. Nothing major has been lost."