Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff and George Russell — Photo: © LAT Images

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Russell admits Mercedes 'RISK' after missed opportunities

It's been a challenging season for both Russell and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 13 September 2023 09:57

Mercedes driver George Russell has said that he will 'give it everything' to try and claim a race win in 2023.

Russell and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton have had yet another difficult season at Mercedes, with the team not producing a car that's capable of getting close to the dominant Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

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Nonetheless, consistent performances from the two British drivers has seen Mercedes maximise the performance of the car, and currently sit in second in the constructors' championship having achieved four podiums in the first 14 races of the season.

Hamilton sits in fourth in the drivers championship, whilst Russell is in seventh, 55 points behind his seven-time world champion team-mate.

"My goal is to have a smoother end to the season, just to maximise the results," Russell told Racing365.

"That was probably the goal more so last year, whereas this year I've been risking a bit more to try and get a bigger result.

"We're in a pretty comfortable position in P2, but we can't let that slip. The way that I help the team achieve this, is if I'm just putting in the consistent and solid results.

"But if there's a chance to win, I'll give it everything to achieve that."

A 'challenging season' for Russell

George Russell was the last Mercedes driver to win a Grand Prix, at the Brazilian GP in 2022

Having beaten Hamilton last season by 35 points, Russell would have been hoping to be closer this year to his illustrious team-mate.

However, the seven-time world champion has been much more consistent this year, and has managed three podiums to Russell's one.

Russell was the last of the two drivers to secure a race victory, in the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2022. In fact, he was the last non-Red Bull driver to have won a race on the whole grid, and is the dominant team's only blot in the last 25 races.

Having recently signed a new contract to stay as Hamilton's team-mate at Mercedes until at least the end of 2025, Russell will be hoping the team can provide him with a car capable of winning races more regularly.

"This season for me has been a very challenging one. In terms of performance, the first six races were really, really strong," he continued.

"A few things went away from us, if things really went our way in Australia there's no reason we couldn't have fought for the victory.

"The engine went, we lost 18 points, then I made the mistake in Montreal and lost another 12 points. So it's been a very, very scrappy season from my side so far."