George Russell believes the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team can be contenders for the World Championship in 2023 and take the fight to Oracle Red Bull Racing at the front of the field.
Mercedes had taken eight consecutive Constructors’ Championship titles between 2014 and 2021 only to slip to third in 2022 as they struggled with the new aerodynamic regulations, with Russell providing the team their own victory in the São Paulo Grand Prix.
Russell says Mercedes know where they need to focus on when it comes to the development of the 2023 W14 and he believes they will hit the targets they’re aiming for.
“I think when you look at the development we have brought this year, and the rate at which we’ve closed the gap, there’s nothing telling us we can’t achieve this,” said Russell to Motorsport.com.
“We’ve been pretty clear now for about two months which targets we have to hit in terms of development. And I am pretty confident if we do achieve that, we will have a car that we can compete with Red Bull.”
Russell says the progress made by Mercedes during 2022 proves that they can deliver a good car, with performances at the end of the year significantly better than what they were able to achieve early on.
At the beginning of the season they were fighting with the likes of the McLaren F1 Team and Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN but by the end of the year were involved in battles with Red Bull and Scuderia Ferrari. And he sees no reason why that rate of development cannot continue into 2023 and push them to the very front.
“At the start of this year, we qualified behind Alfa, and behind Haas,” Russell added. “I remember in Imola, I finished fourth, but I was the same pace as Lando [Norris], and I had Valtteri [Bottas] chasing me down in the Alfa.
“They were quicker than us in that race and Lewis [Hamilton] was in P10 or P9. But you look at us now, and where we are in comparison to those cars that probably haven’t had the similar development as the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull, we’ve made massive strides.
“The fact now we were in a position to fight for race victories shows a lot. So, I’ve got every bit of confidence in this team.
“Maybe straight out of the blocks, we weren’t the fastest car because of where we were coming from. But the rate of development, I’ve got every hope that we can definitely fight for the championship.”
