George Russell believes he has “maximised” his results so far at Mercedes even if they fall short of his pre-season expectations.
The Briton has been impressive after joining from Williams, finishing in the top five at every race – the only driver to do so – and scoring three podiums along the way.
But having spent the first three years of his Formula 1 career watching his current team take victory after victory, Russell concedes their step back in 2022 has been a shame.
“I think if you had told me before the season that we’d be nine races in and I wouldn’t have a victory to my name, I would have definitely been a bit disappointed with that,” he said recently.
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“But I think given the pace of the car and given where we’ve been as a team, I’ve been reasonably pleased with how I’ve performed. I think the results have been maximised.
“I don’t see many races where we could have achieved better results.”
Russell’s results have earned him a new nickname of ‘Mr Consistency’, and despite Mercedes’ problems, he still sits fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, just 18 points behind Sergio Perez in second.
“You know, this is a championship where you’ve got the chance to score every single race and it doesn’t matter how fast your car is, if you’re not scoring those points, then your tally is not going to increase,” he explained, noting the reliability issues of those ahead.
“So, as I said here, great work from everybody back at the factories to deliver a reliable car – but we can’t keep on relying on others’ misfortune, and we need to find more performance. That’s what everyone’s trying their hardest to achieve.”
The countdown is on ? One week until the #BritishGP ❤️ pic.twitter.com/LehKVrZhfq
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 26, 2022
Mercedes are planning more upgrades for this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and Russell is keen to make the step that brings them level with the current leaders.
“We’ve definitely got room to improve,” he stated. “You are constantly striving for more when you understand the car more, the tyres more. And I want to fight for this championship.
“We’ve got to go against the likes of Max at Red Bull and obviously Charles [Leclerc] is doing an extremely good job at the moment with Ferrari.
“But as a team, we just need to keep on pushing – I need to keep pushing personally. So, more to come.”
