Russell: Mercedes ‘in a better place than 12 months ago’

George Russell asserts that Mercedes is “in a better place now than we were 12 months ago” but expects Red Bull to start the season as the team in the ascendancy.

Red Bull has utterly dominated F1 since the return to ground effect machinery in 2022 and surged to a record-breaking 21 wins out of 22 races last year en route to both titles.

Meanwhile, Mercedes has been unable to replicate the success that yielded eight straight Constructors’ Championships prior to the latest regulation overhaul, logging only a sole victory across the past two seasons.

The root cause of the German marque’s struggles in 2023 derived from persisting with the ‘zeropod’ concept it had introduced the previous year. Although Mercedes opted to abandon the solution midway through the season, the team remained restricted by the architecture of its launch-spec W14 charger.

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But with Mercedes prioritising a revised car concept for 2024, Russell is optimistic that the side’s recent failures have stood it in good stead to catch Red Bull this season.

“I certainly think we’re in a better place now than we were 12 months ago,” he told the Telegraph.

“We’ve been working towards our new car concept for a number of months. We’ve cross-checked everything 1,000 times, and we’re all very confident.

“There’s no doubt Red Bull will start the season on top. But it is a long season. It starts earlier than ever and finishes later than ever. Things can change.

“For my part, I’m excited. I feel good within myself. And next year is a clean slate for everybody.

“I hope for a season where I can perform and get the results as I did in 2022, or at least maximise results as I did in 2022. My confidence hasn’t been dented whatsoever.”

Russell impressed in his debut season with Mercedes in 2022 to become only the third team-mate to defeat seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton in the standings.

However, the Briton endured a more challenging sophomore campaign with the Brackley camp and rued a multitude of errors as he trailed his countryman by 59 points.

But Russell isn’t concerned by his points disparity to Hamilton last year, pointing out how the two Mercedes drivers remained equal when it came down to underlying pace.

“I’ve been on Lewis’s level, on average, throughout this year,” he assessed. “And I’m not satisfied with just being on his level. I want to be ahead of him.

“But I’ve also got to be realistic. I’m going up against the greatest driver of all time. He’s definitely not a bad benchmark.

“And, you know, I think quali statistics, if you include Sprint races, we’re exactly the same. And pace-wise, we’re generally the same as well.

“So there are positives. And to be honest I’d prefer to be sat here without the results, but with the pace. Rather than saying ‘Oh, we lucked into a result here or we lucked into a result there’ when actually I was a tenth or two off the pace.”