After a disappointing 2022 season, Mercedes was looking forward to bouncing back this season. Unfortunately, the first two races this year have been underwhelming by their standards and both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are without silverware up until now.
Russell, however, feels that the Silver Arrows will get better with time. The Brit got promoted to a P3 finish at the Saudi Arabian GP after a penalty was handed out to Fernando Alonso, but it got reinstated back to the Spaniard. Hence, Russell finished fourth in Jeddah, followed by a P4 finish for teammate Hamilton.
P4 it is then! Correct decision in the end but a shame for all the fans and everyone involved that we had all that confusion. Still a strong weekend. Let’s keep it going. 💪 pic.twitter.com/toPZi2Euoa
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) March 21, 2023
However, for a team as big as Mercedes, merely competing for an outside chance at the podium is not enough. They won every single constructors’ world championship between 2014 and 2021, and their aim is to return to the top soon. Beating Red Bull’s pace currently seems a long distance away, but Russell feels that they are on the right track and will produce much better results in the coming outings.
P4 in Jeddah was a monumental step forward for George Russell and Mercedes
At the Bahrain GP, Mercedes looked like they had the fourth-fastest car on the grid, with both Ferrari and Aston Martin outperforming them in the race. In Jeddah, however, they made progress by outshining the Ferraris. Russell feels that over those two weeks between the races in Sakhir and Jeddah, they made more progress than they did in a month.
The story of our #SaudiArabianGP. 💪 Where we made some small steps in the right direction.
Summing up a solid weekend in Jeddah, with help from Toto, George and Lewis 👇
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 22, 2023
Russell also pointed out that the W14 felt really good during qualifying, and even though he missed out on the podium places, the car felt better than it had at any point throughout the season.
“We had a really strong qualifying, which was really enjoyable,” the 25-year-old said. “I was really pleased to come home in P4 on the road because I felt like that was the maximum that was possible. And I was having fun up there.”
Russell reveals when he expects Mercedes to make next big step
Fans of Mercedes and Hamilton in particular are waiting for the Brackley-based outfit for the return to winning ways for over a year now. Russell managed to get a win with Mercedes at the 2022 Sao Paolo GP, but Hamilton has not won a race since 2021 and time is running out for him to win his eighth world championship.
Russel, as reported by Motorsport, revealed that Mercedes will make a big step forward at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, because of the upgrades that are set to come in.
“Perhaps you can bring it a bit earlier,” he said. “But I guess you’re always a bit wary to bring things to a street track.”
