George Russell declares himself 'ready to fight' for title

Mercedes

Russell declares himself 'ready to fight' for title

Russell also spoke about how the Mercedes car lacked performance last year

Ian Parkes

Sunday 29 January 2023 13:47 Updated: 22:02

George Russell has insisted he has no regrets over the events of last season despite Mercedes' lack of competitiveness – and he believes it's given him the grounding he needs to fight for the title.

The British driver made the step up to the eight-time consecutive championship-winning team last season but the team slipped backwards, fighting just to remain in the top three teams in the opening stages of the campaign.

The Silver Arrows recovered as the year went on, with Russell able to secure a maiden pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix and a first F1 win in Brazil.

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But ultimately the dream of battling for the drivers' title was taken away from Russell before the season properly kicked into life and after defeating seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, he is ready to make his mark.

“I definitely feel ready to fight for world championships," Russell told GPFans.

“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."