Russell: Mercedes haven't forgotten how to build a fast car

After dominating F1 since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, winning seven Drivers' and eight Constructors' Titles, Mercedes dropped the ball big time in 2022, with their response to the new regulations - the W13 - not up to the standard of the cars usually exiting from Brackley.

George Russell joined the team at the start of the 2022 F1 season, and was delivered with a reality check almost immediately, as the team found out their W13 was not the car they hoped for it to be, as it was draggy and viciously suspect to "porpoising".

However Russell believes Mercedes will bounce back in 2023, and in an interview with BBC Radio Norfolk expressed his optimism in his and his team's 2023 prospects.

Quoted by BBC F1, Russell said: "They [Mercedes] haven't forgotten how to build a fast race car. 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," the driver who hails from King's Lynn - Norfolk added.

"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," he predicted.

Russell ended the 2022 F1 season fourth in the Drivers' Standings, his best result being his maiden F1 win at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, having clinched first ever career pole at the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix, having also stepped on the podium seven times.

However, he admitted that he expected to be going for wins straight away; he reflected: "When you join a team like Mercedes you're expecting victories. 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," the 24-year-old maintained.

Russell beat his illustrious teammate Lewis Hamilton in their first season together, the latter finishing sixth in the Drivers; Championship, but insists that doesn't really matter when the fight is not for the win.

"If you'd told me at the start of the year that I'd be finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton [in the drivers' standings], I'd have been very happy because nine times out of 10 that probably means you're going to be world champion," he said.

"It's a little bit frustrating that this year wasn't that year. We were both fighting for P4, P5, P6 and we don't want to be in this position, so I'm not going to walk away from this season with huge amounts of pride because I finished fourth in the championship. I'm here to win.

"It takes some time whenever you join a new team, regardless of who your teammate is, to embed yourself and gain that trust and confidence within the whole organisation," Russell pointed out.

"It's been a good journey for me, being teammates with him. He's the greatest of all time so I'm in a very privileged position to go up directly alongside him but also learn from him.

"I'm really excited for 2023. I'm still going to be trying to improve my driving, what I do on and off track, and hopefully we've got the car beneath us to fight for the championship," the Mercedes young gun concluded.