"Mercedes haven’t forgotten how to build a fast race car" - George Russell warns Red Bull and Ferrari of Silver Arrows' 2023 resurgence

George Russell is confident that Mercedes will "be in a much stronger position" when the 2023 Formula 1 season gets underway.

The Silver Arrows had a difficult 2022 campaign by their own high standards. The W13 car had a lot of issues from the get-go, with the car's bouncing being the team's biggest headache.

They went from winning eight constructors' titles in a row to finishing third behind Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari. Mercedes won just one race the entire year, in Brazil.

While acknowledging that the team got things wrong last year, George Russell believes Mercedes will bounce back in 2023 and challenge for the titles. He said (via PlanetF1):

“They haven’t forgotten how to build a fast race car. We just got it wrong. We got the philosophy wrong. We went down a route which turned out to be the wrong route.”

He added:

“Sometimes it takes you a long time to dig yourself out of that hole. Now I feel we’ve dug ourselves out of that hole and we’re building on top of that. We are a step behind Red Bull and Ferrari and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do – but we’re definitely going to be in a much stronger position from race one.”

The 24-year-old's words echo Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff's thoughts. The Austrian previously said on an episode of the Beyond The Grid podcast:

“We haven’t suddenly taken a stupid pill, winning the Constructors’ Championship last December and then in March being nowhere is very easy. We got the concept wrong.”

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“I’m in a very privileged position” - George Russell on being Lewis Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes

After honing his talents at Williams Racing, George Russell replaced Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes in 2022.

The Brit, who was expected to play second fiddle to his compatriot in the team, surprised everyone by finishing two places and 35 points ahead of Hamilton in the final standings. In doing so, he became only the third person in Hamilton’s 16-year Formula 1 career to beat the seven-time World Champion in the overall standings.

George Russell believes that he is “very privileged” to have Hamilton as his teammate. He said (via PlanetF1):

“It takes some time whenever you join a new team, regardless of who your team-mate is, to embed yourself and gain that trust and confidence within the whole organisation.”

He added:

“It’s been a good journey for me, being team-mates with him. He’s the greatest of all time so I’m in a very privileged position to go up directly alongside him but also learn from him.”