Alex Albon teased George Russell over his new Mercedes contract at the Italian Grand Prix with the Silver Arrows driver later joking that he has ‘a few less zeros’ than team-mate Lewis Hamilton when it comes to his annual salary.
The talented young Briton signed a new two-year extension on his current contract with Mercedes ahead of the Italian GP, keeping both himself and his seven-time world champion team-mate at the team until the end of the 2025 season.
Russell marked his new deal with an impressive performance at Monza. He outqualified Red Bull driver Sergio Perez on Saturday to line up fourth on the grid and held off the Mexican for some time before eventually slotting into P5, from which he ran a lonely race ahead of the midfield pack.
During a paired Sky Sports interview with Williams driver and close friend Albon after the chequered flag, the Thai-British driver asked Russell: “Salary good? I’m asking, just asking.”
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Russell replied by saying: “It’s fair. Toto said if we both walk away a little bit disappointed then I think that’s fair. But he probably had a small disappointed face on but when I closed the door he was probably smiling.”
The 25-year-old Brit was then asked if his salary matched that of team-mate Hamilton who, according to a report from The Telegraph, will be earning £100 million across two seasons thanks to his new contract. Russell replied jokingly: “Maybe a few less zeros.”
If Russell is to demand similar terms to Hamilton when the time comes to negotiate his next F1 contract for 2026 and beyond then the man from King’s Lynn will need to close the gap to his legendary team-mate.
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The 25-year-old enjoyed an immense debut season with the Silver Arrows in 2022, capitalising on Hamilton’s slow start to the campaign to beat him in the Drivers’ Championship standings, while also taking his first Grand Prix win at Interlagos towards the end of the season.
Unfortunately for Russell, 2023 has been much less convincing. He trails Hamilton by 55 points ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix next weekend and sits down in P7 in the order, behind the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc and with just a single podium to his name this year.
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