At the moment, the new British Mercedes driver is in fourth position in the drivers’ standings with 84 points and has been the only driver capable of always finishing in the top five in the seven races held.
Looking at these numbers, one would think that George Russell would be satisfied with this first part of the season, but the Mercedes driver has recognized that the expectations before starting the campaign were very different.
For the first time since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in Formula 1, Mercedes has found a single-seater, the W13 , which is unable to fight for victories and this has caused Russell to openly say that he did not expect a start to the season so complicated in his first year as the first driver of the star team.
“If I had been told before the season that after seven races I would not have gotten a win, I would have been disappointed.
Despite his disappointment at not being able to climb to the top step of the podium for the first time in his career in 2022, Russell claimed to have gotten the most out of a W13 that is still far behind Red Bull and Ferrari in 2022. performance wise.
“In any case, I am satisfied with the results I have achieved considering the pace of the car. We were able to maximize the potential. I don’t see many races where we could have achieved better results, but we certainly have room for improvement.”
“When we understand both the car and the tires better, we can try to do something else. And then I want to fight for the title.”
“We have to fight with drivers of the caliber of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc who are doing an excellent job at the moment. As a team we have to keep pushing, and that’s what I’m doing too.”
One of the most complicated races of the season for Mercedes was Monaco, and Russell himself admitted that the Principality track brought out all the weaknesses of the W13 project. But even on that weekend, the young Brit managed to get the most out of the car.
“In Monaco we faced some of the limitations of our car, but we learned a lot and we will be able to use this experience to grow in the coming weeks. Fifth overall is a decent result right now and I am confident that better days will come for us.” “, concluded #63.
George Russell and Lando Norris at the 2022 F1 Monaco GP
