Russell admits: 'Victory in Brazil put us on the wrong track'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
George Russell admits a remarkable mistake by Mercedes. The team finally won one race in Brazil after a very long comeback in 2022. This, according to the Briton, gave the wrong impression, leaving Mercedes on the wrong path for 2023.
Mercedes started the 2023 F1 season behind for the second year in a row. The path the team took last year seemed to be the wrong one, yet no decision was made during the last winter break to change tack. According to Russell, victory in Brazil at the end of 2022 partly contributed to the decision to develop the W13 further.
Russell admits suspected Mercedes mistake
Mercedes grandly revealed after the first race of the year in Bahrain that the team is on the wrong track. The philosophy of the car is not the right one and that needs to change. This could have been avoided over the winter. Motorsportweek.com quotes Russell: "Yes, Brazil put us on the wrong track a bit."
"It felt like we got better as a team and we were moving in the right direction. That needs some analysis. After all, we really improved last year." Russell admits that Mercedes has continued down the same path with the W14. The 2023 car is simply a more extreme version of the W13. Russell concludes, "It is clear that other teams have taken a different direction. On the contrary, we went further in our direction and that was not the right direction."