George Russell is confident that the Mercedes Formula 1 team will field a “complete” car in the 2023 Formula 1 season that is competitive everywhere. Mercedes was one of the hardest hit by porpoising this year. The Silver Arrows were competitive again on circuits where there is a lot of downforce.
Russell promises big strides with the W14 on other track types as well: “I’m confident we’re going in the right direction. We’ve committed to a development philosophy where I’m confident we’ve made the right choice.”
“We have set ourselves a clear goal, which is positive in itself. That’s what we’re trying to achieve. Can we achieve it? I have every confidence that we can do it. Of course, what we don’t know is how strong we are our rivals will improve over the winter, but I am convinced that in 2023 we will have a more complete car for all circuits.”
It is based on figures from the development process. Naturally, the development steps are greatest in the first winter after the introduction of new regulations. What also gives Russell confidence is that Mercedes got to the bottom of his issues during the Spa-Zandvoort-Monza triple header and want them understood.
“We’ve done a lot of analysis on the races where we’ve been competitive and the ones where we’ve been too slow. And I think we’ve managed to get an understanding of why we’re doing so much at some tracks were stronger than on others. We only managed to do that over time. The ‘triple header’ after the summer break helped us a lot.”
There is no sign of complacency
Russell confirms that the lessons learned are for next year so will have a limited impact on this year at most: “I don’t want to go into too much detail because hopefully that will give us an edge for next year. But we had now enough races and so many different situations that I can’t imagine anything else surprising us.”
“We’ve had ‘porpoising’ issues, we’ve had rideability issues and we’ve had damaged underbody because the car bottomed out. We’ve had so many issues and we think we’re in the direction we need to be in now. Hopefully This is also accompanied by a better lap time.”
“Sometimes you have to make bold decisions”
He does not want to accept the accusation that the Mercedes team has become complacent after years of dominance: “The fact that they did not become complacent was one of the factors in their years of dominance. I also found it very impressive that we developed the philosophy introduced without side boxes.”
“That may not have worked for us this season, but for me it shows that even after so many years of success, the team still wants to push the boundaries and innovate. It gives me confidence for the future.”
“Sometimes you have to make bold decisions. Sometimes it backfires and sometimes it pays off. If you’re complacent and take the easy path, you’ll never succeed. But we continue to push the boundaries.”