“This is a catastrophe.” Why Russell will still fight Hamilton despite a weak season

“This is a catastrophe.” Why Russell will still fight Hamilton despite a weak season

Dmitry Zakharchenko December 23, 2023, 19:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

In 2022, the Briton looked much more stable, but it is too early to give up on his championship ambitions.

In 2022, George Russell became one of the main discoveries of the season: in his first year as part of a top team, he performed at the level of his teammate, the driver with the most titles in the history of Formula 1. But the Second year at Mercedes, according to George, was “a real disaster.”

Let’s try to find out how this happened and what exactly happened to the British this year.

Main errors

Russell has started the season brilliantly. In the first three qualifyings, George was ahead of Hamilton, and in Australia he even fought with Verstappen and, in theory, could have overtaken him, if not for the red flags and the power plant failure after the restart. The weekend in Baku was not a success for the Briton: he did not make it to Q3, he had problems with Verstappen in the sprint and he missed the restart in the main race. However, Russell soon redeemed himself with a solid performance in Miami.

However, already at the Monaco Grand Prix the first serious mistake occurred: Russell had the opportunity to get on the podium, but crashed into Mirabeau and received a penalty for an unsafe return to the track and contact with Perez. Then came the Canadian Grand Prix and he crashed into the wall: the damaged Mercedes lasted 40 more laps, but with 17 to go, he still retired from the race.

George Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix

Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team

Russell began to act more carefully in races, but difficulties arose in qualifying: in Austria, George was only 11th, and in Hungary he remained in the first segment, while Hamilton won pole that weekend. Lewis ultimately failed at the start and finished only fourth, and Russell finished sixth, but if George had started higher, he could have competed for the podium and overtaken his teammate.

The Briton’s main failure this year was the Singapore Grand Prix. Throughout the race, George was in the top 3, fighting for the victory, putting pressure on Norris and Sainz. But on the last lap the driver lost concentration for a second, crashed into the stop and crashed into the wall with his suspension broken. Third place was already in Russell’s pocket, but in the end he ended the weekend with nothing. “There is no point in making excuses. “A mistake ruined the entire stage,” the pilot then admitted.

Are changes coming to the champion team?

Red Bull’s rivals have sudden hope. “Bulls” can destroy everything by themselves.

Reserve for the future

In 2022, Russell was much more consistent and didn’t have the same setbacks. They even said that because of his experience at Williams, George found it easier to work with the troubled Mercedes than Hamilton. What has changed this year? The answer is simple: In the 2023 season, George set higher goals and felt more pressure.

Russell made all the above mistakes when fighting for high positions. In Baku, George, as he himself admitted, “repiloted”, and perhaps this happened due to an offensive withdrawal in Melbourne, where circumstances deprived him of the opportunity to compete with Verstappen. In Monaco, George saved a pit stop, turning eighth place into fifth. In Canada, at the time of hitting the wall, the Briton was fourth and fighting for second place.

George Russell at the Singapore Grand Prix

Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team

The mistake made in Singapore is the most revealing. Russell chased Sainz and Norris for a long time and put constant pressure on the two leaders. Realizing that time was running out and the race was ending, he tried to make up milliseconds by going wide around the turn and crashed into the wall. Up to that point, George had passed this spot successfully 60 times, but, sensing that his last chance to regain the position was passing, he momentarily lost concentration.

After the Qatar Grand Prix, in which Russell made a brilliant comeback after colliding with Hamilton in the first corner, George called his season “an absolute disaster.” But this is still too strict an assessment: the year was not that bad. In qualifying, the Briton kept pace with pole record holder Lewis and often showed good pace in the race. And these mistakes are an experience that in the future will allow the driver to better understand the limits of what is possible and mentally prepare for more important battles when Mercedes fights for the title again.