George Russell believes that 2023 is one of the worst seasons of his career

George Russell had hopes of securing the pole position in Abu Dhabi. The British driver dominated FP1 and FP3 with a promising race pace. Furthermore, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull seemed to be struggling. However, fate intervened for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2, leaving George Russell with the 4th best time, and then Max Verstappen came out of nowhere to snatch pole position.

A disappointing season

The Briton nevertheless admitted to being satisfied with starting in 2nd position. The Mercedes driver noticed a loss of grip in his car throughout the day. « It’s a strange day, to be honest », conceded the former Williams driver. « I think that before this weekend, we would have certainly accepted a P4. I felt good in the car, but after this morning, we seemed really strong and we thought that pole position was probably possible, but we went out for Q1 and we simply didn’t have the same grip as before. »

Following the pattern of his season and that of Mercedes, the weekend was unpredictable. Good practice sessions followed by complicated qualifying. We’ll have to see on Sunday, which is often positive for the team. However, George Russell believes he is in the process of completing one of the worst seasons of his career.

Currently, George Russell is 8th in the driver standings. The 7th place is still possible, but it is held by Charles Leclerc and he will start ahead of him. « I want to finish the season on a positive note », said the 25-year-old athlete. « It has been a truly chaotic and disorderly season. I don’t think it’s due to a lack of speed. We have had very good performances in many races, but we have never achieved any victories. »

Too many personal mistakes

Despite his disappointment with the overall season, the British driver does not hide behind luck. With driving errors (such as in Singapore) overshadowed by a lack of reliability in his car, the season that is ending is quite sad for him. « “There is a reason for every race, whether it’s me hitting a wall or rain falling in Zandvoort at the wrong time, or the engine giving up in Melbourne,” he testified. « “There are just small things that you can say ‘It’s easy to fix that.’ But when it happens maybe nine, ten, eleven times throughout the year, it’s certainly not bad luck. Ultimately, the car is not fast enough. We have to keep pushing. When the competition is so fierce, one small mistake and you lose several places.” »

Mathematically, George Russell’s season is over. He cannot gain or lose any positions. He has a 28-point deficit to Charles Leclerc and a 71-point advantage over Oscar Piastri.