F1: George Russell determined to beat Lewis Hamilton

We are currently already twelve races deep into the 2022 Formula 1 season. One of the biggest storylines so far is the fact that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has so far been outperformed by his new teammate, George Russell. The younger Briton is pleased with himself, but also admits that he wants to improve even more.

As it stands, Russell is 16 points ahead of his more senior teammate. After a string of consistent top 5 finishes, Russell is showing that he is a force to be reckoned with.

In an interview with BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, he said, "I would still like to raise my game a little bit. If I'm performing against the very best in sport - and I want to be the very best - I need to be at the top of my game every single week."

He then admitted that he is constantly measuring himself up against Hamilton. "I need to look at my team-mate and see if he's consistently doing something better. And there are certain little things that he is probably consistently better at than I am, for the time being, that I want to improve on."

Of course, Russell believes that this does not mean that there is animosity between the two of them. In fact he sees it as a natural part of being an athlete, to want to be better than his competitors, even his own teammate.

The season has been going well for Russell despite the relatively disappointing Mercedes package. The team dominated the Constructors' Championship for the past eight years, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen the only non-Mercedes driver to win the Drivers' title in the same period.

Mercedes were shockingly way behind Ferrari and Red Bull in the first few races of 2022, owing to their massive porpoising issues. They have since brought upgrade upon upgrade to close the gap. Incidentally, Hamilton has also found his groove, finally outqualifying Russell more consistently in three out of the most recent four races. He has also been finishing ahead of his younger teammate, who had been doing better in the earlier rounds.

Now that the dust is settling and the team is getting back into regular programming after a mad dash to fix their initial issues, it seems that Hamilton is ready to push back. Russell is aware of this, but he claims that all he wants is to continue to improve regardless if it is against his teammate or everyone else.

"I'm just going out there to try and do my own business, to do the best possible job that I can. And if I'm ahead of Lewis, great. If I was a bit behind, that's how it is." Naturally, he admits that he fully believes he has what it takes to win a world championship.

Before that can happen, Mercedes will be hoping to fight for race wins in the second half of the season. They have already improved by leaps and bounds, but the other teams are constantly improving as well.

"We're a long way from a maximum potential. So that's why we have a bit of optimism," concluded Russell.