Juan Pablo Montoya: George Russell could beat Lewis Hamilton in standings on one condition

Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has said that he can see George Russell beating Lewis Hamilton this season in the standings if the Mercedes is not competitive enough to challenge for the championship.

Hamilton’s chances of winning the world championship this year already look slimmer than they did last season, with the Mercedes car not yet where it needs to be for him to win races.

Indeed, he could only qualify P16 for the Saudi GP yesterday afternoon, whilst Russell will start in P6.

And Montoya, speaking to Vegas Insider, believes that if the Mercedes isn’t quick enough to win the title this year, Russell could have the edge over Hamilton:

“If Mercedes is not as strong as to win a championship, absolutely.

“If Mercedes has a shot at the championship, no. I think Lewis is still going to beat him just because he has a lot more experience.

“If the car is average, running fifth every week, I think George will still push like he wants to win where Lewis might be disappointed, and won’t care enough.

“If they genuinely struggle this year, will he go – ‘let’s go another year, running in the midfield?

“I don’t see him walking him away from Mercedes to somewhere else because they struggle. I think he would probably just say, ‘thank you very much, I’m done’.

“I think George is going to make Lewis’ life very miserable but I think it’s great. It is the next generation of top guys that is great to see.”