Russell is “ready to fight” for the title
Lacking a competitive enough W13, George Russell is confident for 2023: he believes he will be sufficiently experienced to compete for the world championship.
After three seasons with Williams and a convincing stint at Mercedes in 2020, replacing a Covid-19-stricken Lewis Hamilton, Russell was finally able to join the star brand last year. As the reigning eight-time constructor’s champion, Mercedes could legitimately hope for the best for the young British driver.
However, the new technical regulations have severely affected the German team with a heavily impacted W13 due to the dolphin-ing. Nevertheless, the silver arrows managed to bounce back, and Russell succeeded in securing his first pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix and his first victory in F1 in Brazil, overshadowing his seven-time world champion teammate.
What will galvanize him one month before the launch of the 2023 season, as he revealed to GPFans.
“I really feel ready to fight for the World Championships,” Russell says. “I have no regrets about any race because, in the end, we have done a great job to be able to fight for these positions.”
It was evident that the Mercedes W13 was not at the level of Ferrari, let alone Red Bull. Russell, in any case, knows that the work for the development of the W14 this winter will be crucial.
We have many reasons to be proud, but as a team, we have many things that we know and need to improve, and it is not the standard that we have set for ourselves. [This year] is going to be an exciting season.
Remains to be seen if the W14, unveiled in two weeks, will be able to confirm George Russell’s hopes.
