George Russell believes Mercedes will be back fighting for the Formula One championship next season.
Russell has endured a challenging first year with the team alongside Lewis Hamilton, and said hopes of either driver winning Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix required an error from the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
The 24-year-old sits fourth in the championship standings – just a place above Hamilton – and despite expectations Mercedes would end their 2022 campaign without a win from the final two races at Interlagos and Abu Dhabi, he said the team were brimming with confidence for the future.
“The mindset now is we can definitely fight for the championship next year,” he said. “If we hit our targets over the winter, we will be in a really competitive place. And even if we don’t start off with the fastest car, I am very confident we will have a car that is a lot closer than this year.
“You are seeing now how we are managing to close the gap pretty rapidly. It is definitely exciting going into next year and I think there will be a huge amount of motivation within the team. You can see that progress, we all feel it within.”
