Mercedes had 'very difficult conversations' over 2022 F1 season setback, says George Russell

In a recent interview, Mercedes driver George Russell admitted that the 2022 season had many moments that forced several group discussions with difficult conversations within the team. The 2022 F1 Mercedes challenger was not competitive enough to fight for the title. Consequently, the team had an uphill battle all season, resulting in a not-so-successful year.

On the High Performance Podcast, Russell revealed that Mercedes' efforts to return to the front of the field led to tense conversations off the grid. Beyond the car's performance, both drivers were in the spotlight to push the machines to their best ability.

He said,

“I think for sure the dynamic would have been slightly different had we arrived at the first race and had the fastest car on the grid. There’s been a huge amount of late nights, throughout this season, a lot of tension at times between drivers, teams, designers with regards to ‘are we on the right track? Do we need to be doing something different? Do we need to be more drastic?’"

He added,

"And these were very difficult conversations, but we came away from them growing closer together. We’ve got such great leadership within Mercedes that we are now all pushing in one direction. I truly believe this experience we’ve been through this year will lead to more long term success.”

It's safe to say that the team will be happy to put this season to rest. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called this year "Character building and challenging." He believes it got the team motivated to pursue lofty goals.

“I think my four words would be: Character building. Challenging. So that's three of them. My fourth word would be: Teamwork. It's been a difficult year. We are a team that is used to success, used to winning, used to being at the front and we weren’t. And that really has changed the organisation for the positive. We are much better as a result of this and that's the characters that have built and we have built ourselves as a result of that.”

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"We proved that we have moved forward" - Mercedes chief strategist

James Vowles was happy that the team pushed hard and progressed throughout the season. A car failing to keep up ultimately won a race and secured pole. Mercedes had a come-from-behind story this season. Vowels said,

“It's been challenging, there is no question about it. We were not in a position we were used to being in and you have to make sure that as a result of that you adapt to move forward - and we have. I think we proved compared to the beginning of the season relative to the end how much we moved forward but it's probably the last word that is the most important to me. The teamwork.”

Mercedes will be hoping for a better run next season as it tries to reclaim the crown it lost to Red Bull this year. The team will face myriad challenges as the new season rolls around. However, both drivers and Wolff remain confident that the team will bounce back fiercely.