“Not even something I’m thinking about”: No plans on winning the 2022 Driver’s Championship for George Russell?

Mercedes’ George Russell talks about his thoughts or the lack thereof on a championship bid in 2022 against Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes have seen an unprecedented amount of success in F1 ever since the turbo-hybrid era began back in 2014. Apart from helping Lewis Hamilton win six of his seven world titles, Mercedes remain the only team to have won eight consecutive constructor titles.

Mercedes had a satisfying three days at Barcelona testing. They completed the second-highest number of laps behind Ferrari and have been cautiously optimistic with their expectations for the W13.

When George Russell’s promotion to the Silver Arrows was finally announced, people reckoned the young Briton would give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money.

Despite now being a part of the Mercedes pedigree, Russell does not see himself challenging for a title just yet. In fact, he claims that he isn’t even ‘thinking about it.’

 

When asked if the young gun would be gunning for a title this year with Mercedes, he replied decisively.

“It’s not even something I’m thinking about, to be honest.”

Russell explained that his way of thinking has not changed after the promotion. His mentality remains the same regardless of his starting grid position.

He used his cameo in the Mercedes in the 2020 Sakhir GP as an example to drive home his point. The former Williams driver said that he regarded that race just like ‘another race’.

“The approach is the same, the mindset is the same, the work you put into the event, post-event, is exactly the same. So, work on the process and worry about everything afterwards.”

Also read: Ex F1 driver feels Mercedes would have fared better with Lando Norris alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2022

Mercedes confident of its chances in 2022

While the new Mercedes driver decided to take the conservative approach to his comments regarding the upcoming season, the same cannot be said about Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin.

Following a satisfying testing week, Shovlin claim to be ‘pleased’ with the way their time at Barcelona went.

“We’re pleased with how the week has gone. We planned a very busy programme for the three days and we managed to get through the high priority items, making good progress with the car and power unit.”

Shovlin acknowledged the work put in by the team back at the factory in Brixworth. “It’s very satisfying for everyone to see [the W13] cover 1,800km without significant issues, and to show good promise from a pace point of view,” said Shovlin.

With the Barcelona sessions done and dusted, both Mercedes drivers will be heading back to HQ. There, they will get onto the simulators with the purpose of further preparing the W13 before the actual testing in Bahrain.

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