Formula 1 | Russell: “We are behind Red Bull and Ferrari”

La Mercedes believes he has built a car that is certainly more competitive than last year's, but someone is already trying to get their hands on it, especially in comparison with Ferrari e Red Bull, according to the exponents of the Three-Pointed Star still ahead and not by a little. George Russell, in his second season at Brackley is among these, but he firmly believes that the future W14 will be more competitive at the starting line in Bahrain compared to what was seen 12 months ago at the start of the 2022 season, while confirming the feelings of the top management, namely that the two top teams are still ahead.

“It takes time to adapt to a new team – Russell said recently. Regardless of who the teammate is, you have to earn that trust and confidence within an organization. It's been a great journey for me, even being alongside a champion like Hamilton: he's the greatest of all time, so I'm in a very privileged position to learn a lot from him. We agree that we don't want to fight for fourth place, so I personally won't be proud of my result this season, I'm here to win. I have great expectations for 2023: I will try to improve my driving, what I do on and off the track, and I hope to have a car capable of fighting for the world championship."

“At Mercedes they haven't forgotten how to build a fast car. We did something wrong, the philosophy of the car, a path was taken that turned out to be wrong. Sometimes it takes a long time to get you out of the quicksand, now that we have succeeded, we are building something for the future. We are one step behind Red Bull and Ferrari, there is a lot to catch up on, but we will certainly be in a much stronger position starting from the first race."