Christian Horner's F1 prediction about Lewis Hamilton and George Russell was spot on

This time last year, Red Bull chief Horner warned Hamilton about his hungry young new Mercedes team-mate – and his prediction about the Brits turned out to be very true

George Russell gave his team-mate Lewis Hamilton exactly the sort of stern challenge in the 2022 season as Christian Horner predicted.

Very few expected the two Brits to endure the sort of season they did last year. With Mercedes providing a less competitive car, both racers were forced to maximise their points as best they could while generally out of contention for race wins.

They both did that job admirably, though Russell particularly caught the eye with his consistency. He finished fourth in the drivers' standings, two places and 35 points ahead of Hamilton, thanks to 19 top-five finishes out of 22 races over the course of the year.

Ahead of the season, Red Bull team principal Horner gave his opinion on how he thought the intra-team battle at Mercedes was going to go. "It's the first time Mercedes have been beaten in seven years, that's going to have hurt," he said, referring to Max Verstappen's controversial 2021 title success over Hamilton.

"I'm sure they will come out all guns blazing at the start of this year. George is a really talented guy, he's very quick and I don't think he will be a subservient second driver. He will get stuck in.

"It's great that we have so much talent in the sport with Verstappen, Russell, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and, of course, Hamilton still at the top of his game."

While even Horner was clearly not expecting Mercedes to have such a poor year in 2022, by their own standards, he was proven right about his thoughts on Russell. The man from King's Lynn never looked out of place having made the significant step up from Williams and hit the ground running.

"It would be a different story if it was a matter of first and second place," said Hamilton. And the younger Brit later added: "If you are fighting for one-twos there will be a slightly different dynamic and that's only natural."