Lewis gears up for scrap

THERE will be some painful memories for Lewis Hamilton this weekend as he returns to the Abu Dhabi track on which he was robbed of a history-making eighth world drivers’ championship by a race director’s bizarre decision last year.

But just as painful might be the fact that George Russell is about to become only the third team-mate to outperform Hamilton in the seventimes world champion’s F1 career.

Hamilton (above) claims that is because Russell and his engineers have played it safe while Hamilton and his engineers have experimented.

But in 2023, Hamilton will not only have a mighty battle to try to beat the likes of Max Verstappen and get that eighth title, he will have a mighty battle to prove he is still No.1 in his own team.