George Russell had sharp seven words to say about Lewis Hamilton after his Ferrari switch

George Russell insisted that his relationship with wasn't impacted when the seven-time champion announced his switch to Ferrari. The pair of Englishmen enjoyed their final season together at Mercedes in 2024, with Hamilton announcing that he would join the Prancing Horse for 2025 last February.

And when he was asked if their relationship had taken a hit due to the announcement so early in the F1 season, Russell told : "No, not at all. The relationship's good." However, Hamilton claimed that his younger team-mate was receiving favouritism from Mercedes due to his impending exit - despite bosses denying this.

The team awarded their sole front wing upgrade to Russell at last year's , and Hamilton felt as though it had impacted his ability to out-qualify his team-mate. He said: "I anticipated it would be difficult to out-qualify George because he has the upgraded component, but it's just great to see that we are bringing upgrades.

"But once we got to qualifying...I don't understand. I already know automatically that I'm going to lose two-tenths going into qualifying, and that's definitely frustrating and it's something that I don't really have an answer for at the moment.

"I'm not driving any different, the laps were really great, just lacking something. I don't anticipate being ahead of George in qualifying particularly this year, but we've just got to keep pushing, and the races are strong."

When asked to elaborate on why he felt that way, Hamilton simply responded: "We'll see." Meanwhile, Mercedes Petronas CEO Toto Wolff downplayed any feelings of favouritism at the time, explaining: "Aren't all drivers a bit sceptical at times?

"As a team we have always demonstrated - even in the most tense competitions between team-mates - that we are always trying to balance what is right and be transparent and fair. I can understand as a driver you want the best out of yourself and the team, and sometimes when it is going against you you can question that.

"But as a team we are 100 per cent on a mission of giving both drivers the best possible cars and strategies. We are trying to do the best out of the relationship (with Hamilton), trying to maximise the results for what is our final season together. And that situation between drivers and teams can be tense at times because everybody wants to do the best."

It comes as Russell and Hamilton are once more set to hit the grid of the Circuit de Monaco, albeit, as rivals rather than team-mates. It has been a fine season thus far for Russell at Mercedes alongside new team-mate , racking up four podiums thus far and sitting fourth in the F1 Championship standings - on the verge of breaking the 100-point mark.

Hamilton, meanwhile, has struggled to provide results at Ferrari thus far - two places lower than Russell in the standings with no wins or podiums to his name. His best finish so far this season came in the form of fourth at last week's .