George Russell’s Formula 1 partnership with Lewis Hamilton is officially at an end. Hamilton has reported to Maranello to begin work at Ferrari.
Their Mercedes alliance lasted three years, with Russell joining from Williams at the start of the 2022 season. They appeared to remain on good terms throughout.
Russell was ‘lost for words’ when Hamilton hit him at the Qatar GP in 2023, but that was one of very few flashpoints. He was in attendance at Brackley as the team bid farewell to the seven-time world champion.
Indeed, Russell gave an emotional speech about Hamilton in front of the Mercedes staff. He idolised his fellow countryman as he ascended the junior ladder.
Next year, Russell is expected to take on a team leader role at Brackley. He has 128 races of experience and will now race alongside a teenage rookie in Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton, meanwhile, faces another member of Russell’s exciting generation in Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque is an eight-time race-winner but he’s still pursuing a first championship.
George Russell sends his best to Lewis Hamilton ahead of Ferrari debut
As he made his first publicised visit to Maranello on Monday, Hamilton posed a portrait in front of Enzo Ferrari’s home. The image is approaching five million likes on Instagram.
1996 world champion Damon Hill expressed his excitement after Hamilton’s post. He’s looking to surpass Michael Schumacher by winning an eighth title.
Meanwhile, Lando Norris called Hamilton a ‘don’. Russell was also among those to leave a comment.
The 26-year-old wrote ‘auguri fratello’, which roughly translates to ‘best wishes, brother’. Hamilton and Russell are likely to battle on track multiple times next year, even if Ferrari appear better placed to mount a title challenge than Mercedes.
The message Ferrari fans left for Lewis Hamilton at the Fiorano test track
Hamilton has spent his entire F1 career to date at British-based teams. A product of the McLaren driver academy, he started his career at Woking before his 2013 Mercedes move.
Now Hamilton moves to Milan, where he’ll try and acclimatise to a new culture and way of working. He’ll be joined by engineer Loic Serra and deputy team principal Jerome D’Ambrosio, former colleagues at Mercedes.
And it’s also emerged that Hamilton has rehired Angela Cullen as his trainer. Cullen has accompanied him to Italy as he prepares for his first test.
Ferrari fans have left a sign for Hamilton outside the Fiorano circuit, where he’ll complete his maiden outing this week. It translates to ‘welcome Hami 44, take the car to the racing track, come on!’.
