George Russell confident of Mercedes title charge - ‘We can definitely fight for the championship next year’
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Updated 11/11/2022 at 15:33 GMT
George Russell has reflected on a difficult campaign for Mercedes, but is confident they can bounce back next year and challenge Red Bull for the title. Russell has enjoyed a promising first season with Mercedes, but neither he nor team-mate Lewis Hamilton have won a race this season. If neither taste victory in Brazil or Abu Dhabi next week, then Mercedes will end the campaign without a race win.
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George Russell is backing Mercedes to challenge for an F1 title next season after a disappointing campaign in both the constructors’ and drivers’ standings.
Red Bull are top of the constructors’ standings with 696 points, while Mercedes are third with 447, a gap which is likely to extend in the final two events.
Meanwhile, Verstappen claimed the drivers’ championship with four races to go, as Mercedes have failed to win a race this year.
However, Russell has every confidence that Mercedes can recover and ensure the 2023 F1 season is much more competitive.
“The mindset now is we can definitely fight for the championship next year. If we hit our targets over the winter, we will be in a really competitive place,” he told the press ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“And even if we don't start off with the fastest car, I am very confident we will have a car that is a lot closer than this year.
“You are seeing now how we are managing to close the gap pretty rapidly. It is definitely exciting going into next year and I think there will be a huge amount of motivation within the team. You can see that progress; we all feel it within.”
A title challenge would nevertheless be a huge turnaround in fortunes for Mercedes, as they have been some way behind Red Bull for most of the season.
Failure to win in Sao Paulo this weekend or in Abu Dhabi would leave Mercedes facing a winless season for the first time since 2011.
Russell believes that a race victory for either himself or Lewis Hamilton would depend on Verstappen making a mistake.
“Red Bull and Max are too strong and the only way we are going to be able to beat them is if they make a mistake and we need to be there to jump on that misfortune," he added.
“Ferrari are the unknown at the moment, they are a bit up and down but the last two weekends have been pretty great for us.”
The 24-year-old has been a match for team-mate Hamilton this season and is 15 points ahead of his team-mate in the championship standings in fourth place.
Russell made the switch from Williams at the start of this season and expected to challenge for race wins at Mercedes. But, the Silver Arrows have faced issues concerning porpoising and bouncing, which other teams have been able to cope with better.
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