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George Russell does not have any regrets when he looks back at his first season with Mercedes, as he feels the performances were just not there to win races.
The Brit impressed as he was very quick and consistent from the first race. He won his first F1 race in Brazil with Mercedes and secured his first pole position in Hungary.
However, when Russell joined the team, just one win and one pole position in the entire season were not what he had in mind. Mercedes was a dominant force in F1 in the turbo era and had been an undefeated constructor when Russell arrived. In that sense, the 2022 season was a disappointment for the team.
Looking back at the season, Russell does not have too many regrets, as he feels he did the best he could and now it's up to the team to make improvements. He told GPFans.
“I definitely feel ready to fight for world championships. I don't look back on any races with regret because ultimately, we did an incredibly good job just to be able to fight for these positions. The fact is victory was always a little bit out of sight because we just (didn't) have the performance."
He added:
“We're not going to sit here and be upset with the performances we had shown with the car we've produced. We've got a lot to be proud of, but as a team, we've got a lot that we know we need to improve, and this is not the standard we set ourselves. (This year) is going to be an exciting season.”
We have the best pairing in George Russell and Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes boss Toto Wolff
Toto Wolff has praised the level at which George Russell performed in his first season with the team.
The Mercedes boss talked about how both George Russell and Hamilton complemented each other well and extracted the best from the car. Wolff also termed the combo the best driver line-up in F1 at the moment, saying:
"George is always very self-critical, which is one of the assets that make him a future world champion. He has been thrown now into the Mercedes works team; we keep developing the car, and if you ask me now, the final results look different."
He added:
"Like at the beginning of the year, you could say George was doing very well, and then in the last third of the year, it was Lewis. But in terms of optimum performance, we have the combination of the two best drivers, the strongest lineup."
The 2023 season should see an interesting battle between George Russell and his illustrious teammate Lewis Hamilton.
