“We’ve got a lot to do if we want to fight Red Bull,” George Russell says Mercedes’ struggles at Abu Dhabi were a “bit of a reality check”
Follow Us
George Russell
George Russell, the Mercedes F1 driver, has talked about his team’s struggles at the recently concluded Abu Dhabi GP, and indicated that it was a reality check for the team.
The Brackley-based Mercedes F1 Team was nowhere near the pace of the top two outfits at the Yas Marina Circuit, and an example of this was seen during qualifying when lewis Hamilton and George Russell qualified fifth and sixth for the race.
Moreover, the Grand Prix turned out even worse for the German outfit, as Hamilton retired from the race, and Russell, on the other hand, struggled to keep pace with the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers.
The showing was an extremely disappointing one for the team and Russell while talking about it added, “I think it’s a bit of a reality check for all of us.”
“And very much needed, because we still recognize that we’ve got a lot to do if we want to fight with Red Bull next season.“
“Clearly we have a car with a huge amount of potential, but unfortunately that performance window is far too narrow.“
“And those performance swings we’ve seen from the highs of Budapest, Brazil, Mexico, and Singapore, compared to the likes of here, Monza and Spa are just far too vast.”
He further added, “I think we weren’t the only team to have experienced a bit of porpoising this year. The changes the FIA are making with the raised floor edge are going to be an improvement in that regard.“
“It definitely adds quite a lot of fatigue. I forgot what it was like to drive with the car bouncing around through the corners, and down the straight a little bit. So I’ll be happy if I turn up to Bahrain next year with none of that.“
George Russell’s take on winning his first race in F1
The 2022 F1 season was a roller coaster of a ride for the Mercedes F1 Team, but despite this fact, one good thing that came out was Mercedes win courtesy of George Russell.
While the recently concluded season was a bit of a disappointment for the team, Russell while stressing about his race win in the context of the Silver Arrows whole season, added, “I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved last week, but I’m here to try and become F1 world champion, and we’ve got a long road ahead of us.“
“For sure, it’s good to get it off your back, but you’re only as good as your last race, as they say, and the last race was here in Abu Dhabi. We finished fifth as a team [here].”
“I’m fourth in the championship. I’m going to look back with a lot of pride on the season, but equally knowing there’s a lot to improve if we want to fight with Max [Verstappen].“
George Russell has given an in-depth review of his teams 2022 campaign, and considering how far back Mercedes fell off, it would be anybody’s guess to assume what kind of a livery they would turn up with in 2023.
Would Mercedes be really able to challenge for race wins next year?
Stay Updated!
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)