Lewis Hamilton has developed a reputation for being a tough teammate to beat on track, having only been out-raced by two in his Formula 1 career.
The seven-time world champion’s head-to-head battle with George Russell went all the way down to the wire after a stunning last-lap overtake during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton managed to close a 14-second gap to Russell, after overtaking Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in the final laps of the race, then pulled off a stunning overtake around the outside of his teammate at Turn 9.
It came after a disappointing qualifying session for Hamilton, in which he dropped out in Q1 after Mercedes made a mistake with their run plan. Toto Wolff offered Hamilton an apology and branded the session ‘idiotic’ from Mercedes, having suffered his third Q1 exit in six races.
Putting it behind him, Hamilton surged from P16 to P4 using the contra-strategy of starting on the hard tyre then finishing on the medium.
It also contributed to one stat throughout his F1 career that has stayed relatively consistent, according to Daniel Valente on social media website X.
Lewis Hamilton only lost on total points in head-to-head with teammate once in his career
Both Russell and Hamilton went into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix level on points scored throughout their three-year partnership at Mercedes.
The pair were on 685 points but the last-lap overtake by Hamilton put him on 697 points to Russell’s 695 points, ending their Mercedes partnership on top.
Hamilton has only been outscored by a teammate once in his career, which was when he partnered Jenson Button at McLaren between 2010 and 2012.
In 2007 he was level with Fernando Alonso on 109 points, although Hamilton scored more wins (4) than the Spaniard (3) that season so was classified in second overall.
F1 drivers predict who will come out on top between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc
The partnership between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc next season at Ferrari is set to be one of the most anticipated, considering Leclerc has repeatedly outdriven Carlos Sainz.
Nico Rosberg expects Leclerc to come out on top over Hamilton, considering his form at Ferrari currently and how the latter has performed this season at Mercedes.
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Martin Brundle also expects Hamilton to be outclassed by Leclerc, largely due to him failing to beat Russell at various points this season.
It is going to be another fascinating intra-team battle with McLaren next year, with the two teams likely to be in a position to win titles.
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