© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
George Russell says Mercedes thought they were “onto something” after their 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix 1-2, but it might have led them “down a bit of a wrong path”.
From the start of the 2022 season, Mercedes struggled with their car’s performance, however, by the end of the year the car seemed to improve quite a bit.
At the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the team even scored its first win of the season – and it was a fantastic 1-2.
George Russell now admits that success might have led the team to believe they should continue developing their 2022 car concept, which now appears to have been a mistake.
“Yeah, perhaps Brazil did lead us down a bit of a wrong path, because we did feel like we were improving as a team, that we were going in the right direction,” the Briton said.
“And that needs some analysis as well, because we did improve throughout last year, there’s no two ways about it.
“Especially towards the end of the year, we truly thought we were onto something, and the W14 was probably a more extreme version of the car we had at the end of last year.
“But clearly, others have gone in different directions. We’ve gone further in that direction, and it wasn’t the right one.”
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George then said the team now knows which direction to go in, but warns you can never be 100 percent sure.
“We’re pretty sure of the direction we need to go down.
“I think there’s never any 100 percent certainty because, if I’m being honest, sat here after Brazil, I would have said, ‘I’m 100 percent certain the path we’re on is the right path’.
“And all of you in the room would have probably believed it as well, looking at the progression we’ve made.
“So something’s changed over the winter, the FIA have changed the rules to the floor. We probably haven’t captured that in the way that others have.
“We’ve overlooked this, and we’re not where we want to be, so there’s never 100 percent certainty,” Russell concluded.
