“It’s been quite a journey” – Lewis Hamilton and George Russell take a trip down the memory lane as they look back on the 2022 F1 season
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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell look back at their journey in the 2022 F1 season
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had a tough start to the 2022 Formula 1 season as the Mercedes W13 struggled with porpoising forcing the two drivers to race in a painful state. However, throughout the year, the Silver Arrows continued to work towards solving the problems, and even got the team’s first and only win of the year at the Brazilian Grand Prix, when Russell brought home a 1-2 finish with Hamilton in P2. The pair recently looked back at their season together and remembered the different moments they experienced.
Mercedes posted the video of Lewis and George where the two went through photos from various parts of the season. Starting with a photo Lewis Hamilton remembered fondly, a picture showing the 7-time world champion holding his back because of the pain of driving a car with porpoising. Lewis stated, “This one is the one I remember the most, just because of the pain that I was in.” The two agreed on the pain felt during that weekend with Hamilton bearing the worse of the two due to his lower ride height.
They then looked at the crashes during qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, when both Russell and Hamilton ended up in the barriers during Q3, the duo agreed they had a fast car that weekend, with the 37-year-old stating, “We were just pushing the car beyond its limits.” George then followed up by mentioning how hard the car was to drive during the start of the season, he stated, “The car was so difficult to drive especially at the start of the year with the bouncing… you’re trying to get that last bit out.”
The Silver Arrows’ drivers then looked at their first podium finish of the year, with Hamilton taking P3 at the season opener in Bahrain, the team had a solid result of P3 and P4 but the British pair acknowledged the role played by the retirement of both Red Bull cars that race. Lewis said, “We kind of capitalized on others retiring.” The pair also looked at their first podium together at the French Grand Prix, with George calling it a “Cool day and a Cool shot.” The two Brits mentioned the huge role this race played in giving motivation to the whole team to continue.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell thank the Mercedes team for their consistent efforts
Lewis and George were delighted to see an image from the 1-2 at Interlagos, with the 37-year-old calling it, “The best memory of the year.” Russell compared the start of the season with his first win and said, “We’ve come a long way since.” The two Brits expressed their disbelief in finding themselves getting a 1-2 after struggling immensely during the first half of the year. The porpoising was only eliminated from the W13 by the French Grand Prix.
George then brought up a picture from the pre-season test and mentioned how the team believed to have a rocket ship but the hopes were put down due to the car’s constant bouncing on the straights, “That was the day we discovered the word porpoising.” The two shared their displeasure in driving the W13 with Hamilton stating, “There were definitely moments when you just hated the damn thing.” George recalled the surprise he felt when the team solved the porpoising issues on the car and stated, “There was a time when I didn’t even remember what it was like to drive a car that didn’t bounce.”
Hamilton thanked the team for encouraging him to keep racing after colliding with Kevin Magnussen in Spain which had put the Brit last in the race, but the 37-year-old fought back to finish P4. The pair looked at some memories of the year, Russell’s pole in Hungary, Hamilton’s battles in Silverstone, times when the team felt to be getting back on track. Russell expressed his amazement seeing the whole season and said, “It’s been quite a journey when you look from the beginning of the year to where we have come as a team.”
Lewis Hamilton ended the video by giving a heartfelt message to the whole F1 team, Hamilton said, “we owe everything to everyone back at the factory for continuing whilst we’re on the road.” The 7-time world champion thanked the team for the continuous efforts, stating “we know we’ve got the best people behind us, problem-solving, never giving up, continuing to push.” The 37-year-old continued, “we thank you for continuing to believe in us…we know you’re going to build us an amazing car next year. and whatever we’re faced we’re going to work through it.”
As it stands, the Mercedes F1 team is on its path to getting back to winning ways in 2023, after learning from the struggles of this year. Lewis would be looking to win a race again after failing to win a race in an F1 season for the first time in his career. The team has indeed supported its drivers throughout the problems in 2022 and the drivers have done their best to help and motivate the guys back at the factory. 2023 would hopefully be a better year for the Silver Arrows as they continue to push to the limits.
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