George Russell had an outstanding debut season with Mercedes in 2022 as he finished fourth in the championship, ahead of seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton. Russell won a race and grabbed eight podiums over the course of the 2022 campaign. However, the 25-year-old has struggled to achieve a similar level of consistency this season. With just one podium in 21 races, Russell believes he has had a “pretty crazy” year.
Russell said as per The Telegraph, “Last year was plain sailing. I wouldn’t say it was anything special. It felt like a pretty normal season.” With this, he further added, “If I had had a smooth season like last year, we could have been on the podium eight or nine times this year. Instead, we’re sitting here now with one podium to my name. And I find that pretty crazy.”
Russell has had a disappointing season this year as he is only eighth in the championship. Moreover, Mercedes have also struggled more this season despite being second in the Constructors’ Championship currently. The Silver Arrows just have a four-point cushion over Ferrari and have been massively inconsistent this year.
As for Russell, he has not only struggled to deliver himself but his season has also been hampered due to several reliability issues. That’s not it, as the 25-year-old has also had some on-track tensions with senior Mercedes teammate Hamilton.
The Mercedes duo collided against each other on the opening lap of the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. While Hamilton accepted fault for the collision, it did cost Russell and Mercedes massively as the team were aiming for a double podium in that race.
George Russell and Mercedes lost the momentum after the Brazil GP
Mercedes has struggled massively in the past few races and the race in Brazil perhaps was their worst of the 2023 season. George Russell registered an unfortunate DNF to his name while Lewis Hamilton just managed to finish eighth.
This was the point where Mercedes lost the momentum. They are now also on the verge of losing their P2 in the Constructors’ Championship, which could see them losing out on an extra $10 million prize money.
Nevertheless, Russell and his team still have the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP in hand this weekend to make amends. Once it is over, the Silver Arrows then can shift all their focus to building their 2024 F1 challenger with a whole different layout.
