Yahoo Autos Hamilton urges fans to support Russell after Mercedes takes social media heat
Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes can always improve the way its working with its drivers but that George Russell “can’t be faulted at all” after the team’s treatment of the pair came under scrutiny on social media.
After qualifying in Monaco, Hamilton stated he felt he would be unlikely to outqualify Russell at any point this season, without giving specific details as to the reason why. Russell then took pole position in Canada as Hamilton suffered a surprising lack of performance in Q3, having been quicker earlier in the weekend. Afterward, the seven-time world champion questioned his choice of tire temperatures.
Hamilton said, “If I get my head on right, I’ll get better results at some stage” in Montreal, but recent social media posts from a section of fans have questioned Mercedes’ treatment of the 39-year-old compared to Russell. Hamilton says he wants to see more fan support, particularly of his teammate.
“[The fans] know that, if you look at the years, we’ve always been a strong team, we’ve always worked really hard together,” Hamilton said. “I think it is easy to get emotional — I even commented in the last race, for example, just how I have faults.
“I think we need support, not negativity. I wasn’t actually aware that George was experiencing any negativity. George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and delivering for the team, so he can’t be faulted at all.
“Of course there are always things that can be better within a team and that comes through conversations, through communication, and that’s what we’re consistently working on. But we’re all in the same boat — we’re all working hard together and we all want to finish on a high. We owe that to our long-term relationship.”
For his part, Russell says he avoids social media on the whole to avoid negative comments, but believes fans should try and be more supportive in general of any high-profile figure who shares content.
“Personally I don’t look on Instagram or Twitter [X], to be honest,” Russell said. “I still control my own account, so I work with my team and all of the content that goes out is through me, and all of the captions, everything, is all of my messaging.
“But I think social media is a really double-edged sword. There are so many funny things that you see on social media, and it keeps you up to date with so much, but then on the flip side it’s not just myself but everybody in the limelight, there seems to be negativity pointed towards them.
“Like Lewis said, you want to feel the support, not giving out negativity to others. It’s not something I’ve seen, I’ve heard about it. Of course it’s never nice to hear this stuff but that’s unfortunately the world we live in at the moment and what any person in the public eye is facing.”
