George Russell has ‘every hope’ Mercedes can fight for F1 2023 title
After enjoying an unprecedented streak of eight consecutive constructors’ titles, Mercedes slipped behind Red Bull and Ferrari in 2022 after struggling with their new car concept amid a major overhaul to F1's aerodynamic regulations.
Third-place in the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:F1 championship standings marked Mercedes worst season since 2013, while the team was able to win just once, courtesy of Russell’s superb drive in Brazil to head home his seven-time world champion teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes made encouraging gains in the second half of the year after being hampered by extreme 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:porpoising with their troubled W13 at the start of the season, and Russell sees no reason w💃hy the team cannot bounce back in 2023.&n𒁃bsp;
Asked by ltxcn.top if he believes Mercedes can fight for the title in 2023, Russell said: “I think when you look at the development we have broug🥀ht this year, and the rate at🐠 which we’ve closed the gap, there’s nothing telling us we can’t achieve this.
“We’ve been pretty clear now for about two months which targets we have to hit in t꧅erms of development. And I am pretty confident if we do achieve that, we will have a car that we can compete with Red Bull.
“At the start of this year, we qualified behind Alfa, behind Haas,” he continued. “I remember in Imola, I finished fourth but I was the s🔜ame pace as Lando [Norris] and I had Valtteri [Bottas] chasing me down in the Alfa.
“They were quicker than us in 💟that race and Lewis was in P10 or P9. But you look at us now and where we are in comparison to those cars that probably haven’t had the similar development as the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull, we’ve made massive strides.
“The fact now we are in a position to fi🐎ght for race victories shows a lot. So, I’ve got every bit of confidence in this team.
"Maybe straight out of the blocks, we weren’t the fast𓂃est car because of where we were coming from. But the rate of development, I’ve got every hope that we can definitely fight for the championship next year.”
With F1 set to embark on its 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:longest-ever season in 2023 - potentially featuring as many as 24 races - Russell admits a gruellin🥂g calendar only adds to the challenge.
“The seasons are definitely hotting up,” he explained. “It’s going to be one of the 🌜challenges, for sure - one of which, you wish you can do a better job than your competitors.
“So we will definitely have a sit down with the team, with my personal team, t𒁃o see how we can be the most efficient across the season, and make sure not only I, but everyone in the team ಌperforms at their A-game over such a brutal season.
“It’s definitely a challenge, one of those which just adds to the🦂 challenges of F1.”
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