Russell's Hamilton gesture spotted in NEW testing footage

A gesture delivered by George Russell to his former Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton has been unearthed from a clip during Formula 1’s pre-season testing in Bahrain last week.

The 27-year-old Brit will undertake a new role at Mercedes in 2025 and will become the Silver Arrows team leader following the departure of his seven-time world champion team-mate.

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Russell will instead be joined by Italian youngster Kimi Antonelli, with the pair taking to the track for the first time in the W16 for extensive testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, where they totalled 458 laps between them.

According to Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' trackside engineering director, the team have made ‘good steps’ in addressing their weaknesses during testing, with Russell topping the timesheets on the final day with a time of 1:29.545secs.

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Can Mercedes join the 2025 championship fight?

Whilst Mercedes' true pace will not be confirmed until Melbourne, testing has offered hope for the team who have gradually fallen behind their rivals since the 2022 regulation changes.

Mercedes’ inability to join the championship fight helped tempt Hamilton to sign for Ferrari, with the 40-year-old frequently frustrated by the team’s and his own pace during his final season in 2024.

However, all remains well between Hamilton and his former team, and he was even spotted in a heartwarming exchange with Russell and Toto Wolff on the red carpet at F1 75’s live launch in London.

The mutual respect also extends onto the race track, where Russell offered a wholesome moment during pre-season testing as he waved to his former team-mate, after he passed the scarlet livery down the straight.

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