George Russell has been driving for Mercedes since the start of the 2022 season
Mercedes’ George Russell (via IMAGO)
The Mercedes Formula 1 team has not been able to produce a championship-worthy car since the end of the 2021 season. Under the new regulations, the team has struggled massively and George Russell has recently shed light on the mistakes that have doomed the German team’s 2023 season.
During the turbo hybrid era, Mercedes was the top dog at the pinnacle of motor racing. None of the other teams were able to stand up against them. However, since 2022, even midfield teams like McLaren, and Aston Martin, have somehow found a way to get the better of them.
The Brackley-based-teams 2023 campaign has been nothing short of a horror show, and Russell while pointing out his team’s mistakes ahead of the upcoming Las Vegas GP said:
12 months on, we have a further 12 months of information, and we’ve managed to implement some of those changes we want for 2024 in certain tests this year. We felt we needed a lot of change, and perhaps we rushed a couple of decisions without thoroughly testing in the simulator and going through the potential consequences. We were just trying so many different things, and it was more quantity over quality testing.
George Russell has proved second best to Lewis Hamilton in 2023
George Russell joined the Mercedes F1 team ahead of the 2022 F1 season. During that time, no one expected Russell to pose a real challenge to the former 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton. However, to everyone’s surprise, he was able to outperform the Mercedes legend.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton (Credits: Planet F1)
While 2022 was a memorable year Russell, fast forwarding to this year, Lewis Hamilton has hit back hard and Russell has just not been able to cope with it. As things stand, Hamilton is way ahead of Russell in the Drivers Championship and has also scored way more podium finishes than him.
Mercedes has got two brilliant drivers in its arsenal and while their team tussle is going to continue for a couple more seasons, they both at the end of the day want a car with which they would be able to challenge for the coveted Formula1 World Championship. Keeping everything in view, 2024 could prove to be their year.
