George Russell has expressed that Mercedes’ recent turnaround has provided him with added “motivation” to target a maiden title push in the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Russell’s arrival at Mercedes in 2022 coincided with the side sustaining a downturn in competitiveness as it struggled to adapt to F1’s reversion to ground effect cars.
But although the current term commenced on a similar uninspiring note, the team’s overhauled W15 has come alive in recent weeks to deliver three wins in four races.
Russell started that revival in Austria, but his luck has turned since as he retired from pole position in Silverstone and was disqualified in Belgium having headed a 1-2.
Nevertheless, team-mate Lewis Hamilton has been on hand to pick up the pieces on both occasions to ensure Mercedes has gone into the break as the in-form outfit.
Russell, who is poised to become team leader as Hamilton moves to Ferrari, has admitted the remaining rounds will be pivotal to setting up a possible title tilt in 2025.
Asked whether he considered this season the building blocks to mount a sustained championship battle next term, Russell told Motorsport Week: “Yeah, absolutely.
“I think for all of us, It’s been a difficult couple of years getting the car into a place where we can consistently fight for victories.
“But, you know, I’m so motivated, so excited for the second half of the season, which is ultimately building up towards 2025.
“And when you look at the competition now, you know, there’s no reason why we can’t fight.
“And if the season started in Montreal, the championship standings would be looking very, very different. So, you know, it’s going to be great.
“There’s so much, I think there’s so much motivation from all the other teams to get back to the front, from McLaren, from Ferrari, from ourselves.
“So for sure, it’s not going to be easy. And, you know, hopefully we see a good fight on our hands into next year.”
Mercedes endured a disastrous time across the opening practice sessions at Spa-Francorchamps, prompting the side to abandon running the new floor it introduced.
However, changes to the car’s mechanical set-up and a clever one-stop helped Russell to lead team-mate Hamilton until post-race scrutineering saw him be excluded.
The Briton has conceded that Mercedes has been at a loss on several occasions to explain its fluctuating pace, though he suspects track temperature has had a role.
“This season’s really been quite strange when we’ve been slightly off the pace in Austria and Barcelona,” he said to Motorsport Week. “We didn’t have the answers then.
“And when the pace was so exceptionally quick in Montreal and Silverstone, we had some ideas why it was quick but not to the magnitude that it was.
“So, for sure, we think there’s some correlation with the temperature.
“It’s obviously not the warmest here. There was a bit of cloud cover, so I think that is probably still the correlation we’re seeing.”
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