Mercedes “just got it wrong,” in George Russell’s opinion, this season and will be much more competitive next.
By the time 2022 rolled around, the Silver Arrows had won eight straight constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles, including six for Lewis Hamilton.
But Russell’s switch to Mercedes came at the same time that their car had a terrible year, struggling to keep up with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
Russell finished fourth in the driver standings and Hamilton dropped to sixth place for Mercedes, who finished third in the constructors’ championship.
Russell does not anticipate that to be the case in 2023, but he is convinced that Mercedes will still be able to produce a championship-winning vehicle.
“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.”
Debut season with @MercedesAMGF1 complete. We hoped for more but I’m proud that together we achieved my maiden pole, sprint victory and race win. Lots of positives to take away from the year and even more motivation heading into 2023. We’ll be back stronger, I have no doubt. 👊 pic.twitter.com/RHmqyWub5H
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) November 21, 2022
At the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the year’s penultimate race, Russell finally achieved his goal of earning his first career victory, but he still longs for more.
“When you join a team like Mercedes, you’re expecting victories,” he 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.”