"I've been reasonably pleased with how I've performed" - George Russell 'wants to fight' for the 2022 F1 championship after his performances so far

George Russell has said that he has been pleased with his performances so far this season amid Mercedes’ struggles. The Briton revealed that while his pre-season expectations of taking a victory have not worked out yet, given the circumstances, he believes he has maximized the results.

Speaking ahead of the 2022 Monaco GP, he said:

“If you told me prior to the season that we’d be seven races in and I wouldn’t have a victory to my name, I would have definitely been a bit disappointed with that. But I think given the pace of the car and given where we’ve been as a team, I’ve been reasonably pleased with how I’ve performed.”

He added:

“I think the results have been maximised. I don’t see many races where we could have achieved better results.”

The 24-year-old driver replaced Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes this season following his three seasons with Williams, driving mostly at the back end of the grid. Amid high expectations from both fans and his team alike, the young driver has delivered stellar performances, finishing every single race so far this season within the top five.

Russell's performances have been further highlighted due to the struggles of his illustrious teammate, Lewis Hamilton. The former currently has 74 points to his name, while the seven-time world champion only has 46.

After Mercedes seemed to have finally gotten on top of its porpoising problems, which helped it to close the gap to the front-runners last weekend in Spain, the Briton said that there was still more to come from the team.

He said:

“I want to fight for this championship. We’ve got to go against the likes of Max [Verstappen] at Red Bull and obviously Charles [Lecler] is doing an extremely good job at the moment with Ferrari.”

He went on to say:

“As a team, we just need to keep on pushing, I need to keep on pushing personally. So, more to come.”

The new Mercedes driver currently stands in fourth place in the Driver Standings due to his consistency this year.

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Lewis Hamilton “unleashed” his true potential at the 2022 Spanish GP, says George Russell

George Russell said that Lewis Hamilton’s performance during last weekend’s Spanish GP was “incredibly impressive,” and felt that it was the first time this season that the seven-time world champion had shown his true pace in the car.

Speaking ahead of the Monaco GP, the 24-year-old said:

“What Lewis [Hamilton] achieved on Sunday was incredibly impressive. And probably the first time we’ve all seen this season his true pace come alive and unleashed. Nobody was probably surprised by that. And we all know what Lewis is capable of.”

George Russell added:

“I think it gives us optimism as a team when we saw Lewis in the position he was, just going for it and seeing what was possible.”

After incurring damage to his car and falling to the back of the grid due to contact with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas in the first lap, Lewis Hamilton managed to deliver an incredible recovery drive. The only driver to have done a net two-stop strategy, given he was forced to switch from his starting medium tires after the incident, he ensured his tires held on throughout the race to bring himself back into the top five. He lapped at a pace that was often on par with Max Verstappen's in the Red Bull.

Catch George Russell and Lewis Hamilton at the Monaco GP on May 29, 2022.