Lewis Hamilton and George Russell give their thoughts on the development of the Mercedes for next year ⏩
'Cautiously Optimistic' Russell Hopes For 'So Many Issues' With Mercedes To Be Fixed
F1Thursday, 16 November 2023 at 19:00
George Russell is optimistic that in 2024, Mercedes car can improve even further, as they have "many issues" at the moment.
The 2023 F1 season isn't the best one for the Mercedes team, yet they are still second in the World Constructors' Championship. However, as a team that has won eight Constructors' and nine Drivers' Championships, their ambitions are much higher.
Russell is a driver that didn't get to experience the dominant era of Mercedes, during which they have won the majority of their Championships, but he hopes that he can be part of that era in the future.
According to his compatriot, Lando Norris, he's one of the drivers that could challenge Max Verstappen, but to do that, the Brit would need a little bit better car, as according to his teammate Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes currently don't have a race-winning car.
The British drivers talked to SkySports ahead of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will see the first-ever race at the newly-built Las Vegas Strip Circuit, and during the interview, Russell mentioned the team's issues and limitations.
"We have different driving styles but the fundamental limitations that we both face are the same. Each weekend we alternative who goes first in our post-session debrief and often whoever speaks second says the same as what he said."
For Russell, the fact that both drivers are experiencing the same issues is a positive thing, as that means that they can get to the root of the problem sooner, and that makes the problems more clear, and as a result, easier to solve.
"So that's always a good sign when the driver speaking second, whichever weekend it is, says the same as what he said because it shows we are on the same page. It shows the issues are clear."
Ahead of the 2024 season, the British drivers don't want to be too optimistic, as it's been a couple of seasons since they were contenders in the World Championship. As a result, Russell is very cautious.
"We are cautiously optimistic going into next year. We are not sat here thinking 'why are we slow?' We know why we're slow. We have got so many issues with this car and so many problems that we want to solve."
"So that gives us hope that if we do solve them, we can make a big step forward. But we need to go out there and actually achieve that."
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