Drivers
With Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari red, Russell inherited the unofficial status as team leader at Mercedes he’d statistically wrestled from his compatriot in 2024 and ran with it to unleash a career-best season where he scored more points and podiums than ever, and matched his two-win 2024 campaign with victories in Canada and Singapore that a younger, less complete Russell might have squandered.
It took until October for Russell to earn a new contract as Mercedes – justifiably – waited for Max Verstappen not to be an option, but that was in no way a commentary on a driver who, at 28, is the best version of himself that we’ve seen.
Good enough to win a title? It’s a question where we might be about to discover the answer.
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