F1 LIVE: George Russell to ‘raise his game’ with Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari target one-two in Hungary

George Russell admits he is keen to “raise his game” at Mercedes this season with Lewis Hamilton outperforming him in the last four races.

While Russell – in his first season with the Silver Arrows after three years at Williams – is 16 points ahead of the seven-time world champion in the Drivers Standings, Hamilton has recaptured some form in the past month having finished on the podium in Montreal, Silverstone, Spielberg and Le Castellet.

Russell’s 2022 record of finishing in the top-five of every race succumbed to a first-lap DNF at Silverstone but he finished fourth in Austria and third in France ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the summer break.

Yet the 24-year-old insists he still needs to “keep on improving” as he targets his first win in Formula 1 this season, with Mercedes finally having got to grips with the porpoising and bouncing which curtailed hopes of a Grand Prix win in the early stages of the season.

“Going up against the greatest driver of all time, where do you set your expectations?” Russell said, in an interview with the BBC. “It’s by no means been a bad start to the season, but I would still like to raise my game a little bit.

“If I’m performing against the very best in sport – and I want to be the very best – I need to be at the top of my game every single week. I need to keep on improving. I need to look at my team-mate and see if he’s consistently doing something better. And there are certain little things that he is probably consistently better at than I am, for the time being, that I want to improve on.

Ferrari are targeting a one-two win at the Hungarian Grand Prix to ease the pain of Charles Leclerc‘s costly crash while leading in France last weekend. Leclerc’s self-confessed error at Le Castellet left the Monegasque 63 points behind Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen, with Ferrari 82 adrift in the Formula One constructors’ standings.

“We need to turn the page and look to Hungary and do a one-two there,” team boss Mattia Binotto told reporters after Leclerc’s blank. “There is plenty of reason why we need to smile. Our objective should not be winning but a one-two. There is no reason why not to win 10 races from now to the end.”

Ferrari started the season with a one-two in Bahrain but have yet to repeat the feat, getting both drivers on the podium on only two further occasions in Saudi Arabia and Miami. Leclerc, despite seven poles, has retired from the lead on three occasions while team mate Carlos Sainz has suffered four retirements in 12 rounds.

Red Bull expect Hungary, where the weather is again likely to be hot and tyre management will be key, to play more to their rivals’ strengths. “I don’t expect Hungary to be particularly our best track because I do think we are lacking a bit of downforce compared to Ferrari, and that’s what you need to run there,” said Verstappen. Red Bull boss Christian Horner agreed, saying the Hungaroring “will probably play more to the Ferrari’s strengths than our strengths.”

The FIA’s new interim chief has rejected claims she will favour her former employer Mercedes in the role. Shaila-Ann Rao was appointed to F1’s governing body as interim secretary general for motorsport in June by the FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem, and the announcement brought questions from the F1 paddock, after Rao had spent several years working as general counsel for Mercedes and later special advisor for team principal Toto Wolff.

Wolff’s counterpart at Ferarri, Mattia Binotto, called on the FIA to prove Rao would be an impartial figure at the top of the sport. “On the concern of Shaila-Ann, yes, certainly, it’s a concern,” Binotto said at the time. “She’s a great person, she’s got a lot of experience. She will certainly be capable of doing the job.

“I’m pretty sure on that. It’s down to them to make sure there will be no conflicts of interest at all, to behave properly. And it’s down to the president to ensure it. I’ve got the trust they will do it.

“As Ferrari, it’s a concern. I’m pretty sure that through the behaviours, through the decisions, they will prove it’s a wrong concern.” Speaking to Corriere della Sera in Italy, Rao dismissed those concerns and said she just wants to get on with the job.

Carlos Sainz has developed into more of a “team leader” at Ferrari than teammate Charles Leclerc, according to 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill. Leclerc, who won his third race of the season in Austria two weeks ago, crashed out of the French Grand Prix while leading on lap 18 in what he later simply admitted as a “mistake” in losing the rear of the car.

Sainz, meanwhile, progressed from the back of the grid and opted to stay out on track whilst fighting for a podium place with Sergio Perez, despite calls from the Ferrari pit wall for him to come into the pits, with a five-second penalty also needing to be adhered to.

The Spaniard overtook the Red Bull driver before later coming into the pit lane, eventually finishing fifth, but Hill told Sky Sports’ Any Driven Monday show that Sainz has not shied away from making calls himself out on track.

“Carlos has struck me as actually the more of the team leader,” said Hill. “He seems to be more familiar with the strategy, seems to be able to make decisions.” Sainz also rallied against his engineer at the British Grand Prix, a decision which proved fruitful as he claimed his first win in Formula 1, yet confusion from the Ferrari pit wall summed up a frustrating day for the Scuderia at Paul Ricard on Sunday.

“I think they’re [Ferrari] a little bit halfway up the stairs,” Hill added. “Someone needs to take charge and say, ‘okay, we’re making a decision’. And it’s either the driver or it’s the strategist, clear direction.”