Russell: Mercedes fired up to bounce back after 2021

This was Russell's first team interview as a Mercedes F1 driver, as the young driver gears up to partner one of the sport's greats in the form of seven-time F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Russell, who came through the ranks of Mercedes' junior driver program, on the back of three full seasons with Williams, admits it felt that joining the team was like coming home.

"It's an incredibly special feeling to be an official Mercedes driver," he began. "And a bit of a strange feeling at the same time, because having spent so much time there when I was in Formula 3 and Formula 2 as a junior driver.

"In a way it feels like returning home to people who I've known for such a long time, and get up to speed with how my team operates again, which is something I've really enjoyed.

The 23-year-old's time with the team as a junior driver, meant that so many formalities were out of the way, as he went straight down to the business getting ready for the new season.

"I feel like I know everybody's so well already," he said. "So we were just straight to business on the important bits and bobs, to understand the new car to understand the challenges, and to try and prepare as best as possible for the season ahead.

"And I think following the conclusion of last year, there's so much motivation and fire within the whole factory to to bounce back. And that is incredible for me to see," Russell explained referring to the controversial 2021 F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi, where Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the F1 Drivers' Title.

The young Briton revealed that he had a busy winter training and hanging around at the Mercedes factory with the team's engineers getting ready for the season ahead, his days spent "most importantly on the simulator, getting to grips with the new car, understanding the limitations, and trying to direct the development", something he feels was "a really exciting part" of his new team experience under the era of new aero regulations.

Russell spoke of the "interesting" impressions he got when he drove the team's 2022 F1 car, the W13, in the simulator.

"It is a very different car to the previous era," he pointed out. "And the characteristics of how the downforce is produced is completely different. So we're still learning as we go, there's still a huge amount of improvements to be made to bring everything together to to make it as nice as possible to drive, which I foresee a lot of people being in the same boat, because we're just learning so much day after day, whether it's in a wind tunnel, or in a simulator.

"And I think it's going to be a year of, of development on I think everybody wants to go to the first race and have the fastest car possible. But what will be more important is understanding what your limitations are and how you're going to improve from those limitations to build yourself the best foundation possible," Russell explained.

When asked if he felt moving into new team under a regulation change was a tough challenge, the former Williams driver said: "I see moving teams during this regulation change as a positive in all honesty.

"We've got a completely different car, which has a completely different philosophy to previously different tires, working with new engineers, and I think starting from a completely fresh sheet of paper is beneficial for all.

"I think if I stayed with Williams for this season, there's always things in the back of your mind that you learned on the previous era of cars that will always subconsciously carry through into the future.

"Whereas if you are truly starting from a fresh slate, I think there can only be a beneficial issue," he insisted.

Russell said that his target was to get the maximum out of himself and the team around him, and that " such an interesting year of development" will be driving the performance, as he feels that quantifying targets for 2022 is futile.

"I truly don't believe you can put a value or a target on that because nobody knows where they're going to be when they reach to to the first race," he said.

"You have to have your micro targets. Where am I going to improve on myself? Where am I going to improve on the car?

"And if you do every single aspect correctly, give yourself the best chance of of reaching the obvious goal," Russell concluded.

Mercedes announced that their 2022 W13 will be launched on February 18.