George Russell has been learning from Lewis Hamilton’s approach to Formula 1 and adopting some of the world champion’s techniques to improve his race performances.

The Mercedes junior driver has had the opportunity to observe Hamilton at close quarters through his work with the team. He described the five-times champion as “the most complete driver I’ve ever ever come across”.

“With the details and everything, he’s exceptional,” said Russell. “I think I can learn a lot from him.”

Russell said Hamilton’s work ethic is under-appreciated by some.

“I recognise that he doesn’t just rely on natural talent to be quick,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans. “He goes into every single detail to try and be better and better.

“[He’s] one of the most hardworking people I’ve come across in the paddock which I think shocks a lot of people. There’s definitely a few little techniques I saw him doing that I’ve tried to adopt to help me go faster. Especially in a race distance, less so over one lap.”

Russell is experiencing the Marina Bay circuit for the first time this weekend. He says the approach to tyre preparation in Singapore is very different to other circuits he’s driven at.

“It’s just a unique place isn’t it? You’ve got such a long lap. You’ve got a really tight and twisty sector three where you can win and lose a lot of lap time.

“So I think it’ll almost be a compromise that you can’t take too much out of a tyre to open a lap and you need it in a better window at the end of the lap. You almost want to be hitting that peak grip by about mid-lap, really, which is odd because at every other track you’re trying to hit the peak grip at turn one and carry it through the lap.”

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2019 F1 season