'Maybe he gives a tenth to George': Lewis Hamilton's qualifying pace compared to his teammate

F1 pundit Peter Windsor feels Lewis Hamilton still has the ability to compete with George Russell and be faster than him on certain circuits. Even though Russell is performing slightly better than Hamilton at the moment, Windsor believes that people cannot write the seven-time world champion off.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Windsor explained how Hamilton is quite close to his teammate when it comes to race pace. He stated that the 38-year-old has been driving in F1 since 2007 and is still able to stay near the top, if not at the top. He said:

"I think we should give Lewis a little bit of slack. I mean, seven-time world champion, been racing in Formula One since 2007. It's a long time ago, and you know, he's right there in the mix of it, really. Yeah, maybe he gives a tenth now to George on one lap. You know, if it was some really, you know, really on it for the entire lap, maybe George has got him. But I think race pace-wise, he's right there."

Windsor also discussed Hamilton's unprecedented control and feel for the car and how that could allow him to beat Russell. He said:

"He makes up if, and it's a big if, he is maybe a tenth away from George on some circuits, he makes up for it in a number of other ways, as I've said before, this incredible feel for managing the car, and for dealing with the variables that come into play in the course of a race."

Lewis Hamilton currently stands in fourth position in the drivers' championship with 56 points, while George Russell is in sixth position with 40 points.

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Lewis Hamilton sums up his race in the 2023 F1 Miami GP

Lewis Hamilton was satisfied with a sixth place finish in the 2023 F1 Miami GP, moving up from a 13th place grid start. The Briton explained how he enjoyed battling the Alpines and Ferraris in the race. The seven-time world champion said he did not enjoy qualifying, as he was out in the Q2 session. The Mercedes driver said:

“It’s been a good day, much better than yesterday [in qualifying]. Yesterday was a difficult day, to be qualified [in] 13th is not great, [and] obviously made the race much, much harder for us. The first 20 laps were a little bit difficult because we were in a DRS train. But after that, I was able to then start chipping away and I really enjoyed battling with all the different cars – it was great at the end to catch the Alpine and overtake a Ferrari for example.”

While Lewis Hamilton finished the race in sixth, his teammate, George Russell started from sixth place and finished fourth, behind Fernando Alonso and the two Red Bull drivers.