LEWIS HAMILTON is still Mercedes’ best chance of claiming a win, not George Russell, claims Jolyon Palmer.
Rookie Russell leads his legendary Formula One team-mate by 15 points in the Drivers’ Standings.
Seven-time world champ Hamilton has failed to mount a title challenge this term but after a poor start battling for midfield spots he has finished second in his last two outings.
F1 pundit Palmer is adamant that the 37-year-old has shown recently that he is back to his best.
And he added that if Mercedes can build a car capable of mounting a shot at the championship next season, then it will be Hamilton that will be pushing for it rather than his junior colleague.
Discussing the points gap between the pair on the F1 Nation podcast, Palmer said: “I imagine George will close it out, just by sheer numbers.
“There’s only two races left and if he just manages to keep this consistency, he’ll be there.
“But I think that doesn’t really tell the picture of the Mercedes story.
“I think George has been impressive, if he beats Lewis it will be an amazing achievement.
“But I do think the more the season’s gone on, the more Lewis looks like Lewis again.”
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He added: “At the start of the year, there was a really odd moment where everyone was a bit perplexed [thinking] ‘is George Russell, gonna outdo Lewis Hamilton?’ and for the first six, seven races, it was looking that way.
“As the season’s gone on, I think Lewis has got on top.
“And I think if they do have a title-challenging car next year, I still think it’d be Lewis that would be that man.”
