George Russell expects Mercedes to be “in a much stronger position from race one” in 2023 as the team looks to fight for F1 world titles once more.
Mercedes endured a challenging 2022 season as the German manufacturer’s recent winning run came to an end at the start of F1’s new era of aerodynamic regulations.
The Silver Arrows’ W13 car was plagued by porpoising and bouncing issues which hampered the team’s competitiveness for much of the year, resulting in Mercedes slipping behind Red Bull and Ferrari to third place in the constructors’ championship.
Russell nevertheless impressed in his rookie Mercedes season, claiming the team’s only race victory in Brazil and finishing two places and 35 points clear of Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings.
And the 24-year-old Briton is confident Mercedes will be back to their usual level of performance in 2023.
“They haven’t forgotten how to build a fast race car,” Russell told BBC Radio Norfolk. “We just got it wrong this year.
“We got the philosophy wrong. We went down a route which turned out to be the wrong route.
“Sometimes it takes you a long time to dig yourself out of that hole. Now I feel we’ve dug ourselves out of that hole and we’re building on top of that.
“We are a step behind Red Bull and Ferrari and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do – but we’re definitely going to be in a much stronger position from race one next year than we were this year.”
Russell said he felt ready to fight for wins and championships upon joining Mercedes after three years at Williams, but hopes the team’s struggles will ultimately benefit them in the long run.
“When you join a team like Mercedes you’re expecting victories,” Russell said. “I felt ready to fight for race wins and championships this year but you’ve just got to manage your expectations.
“You’ve got to change those sights slightly and it’s been really intriguing for me this year, seeing how the team deal with this situation.
“I’m here for the long haul and even though I wanted victories and [to be] fighting for that championship in 2022, as a team these struggles are going to set us up for the coming years.
“I hope I look back in 10 years’ time and say the 2022 season was a positive one in the journey.”
Russell insisted he is not particularly proud about his career-best fourth-place finish, despite becoming the first teammate to beat Hamilton in six years.
“If you’d told me at the start of the year that I’d be finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton, I’d have been very happy because nine times out of 10 that probably means you’re going to be world champion,” he explained.
“It’s a little bit frustrating that this year wasn’t that year. We were both fighting for P4, P5, P6 and we don’t want to be in this position, so I’m not going to walk away from this season with huge amounts of pride because I finished fourth in the championship. I’m here to win.”
Keyword: 'Much stronger from race one' - Why George Russell is convinced Mercedes will be back in F1 2023