George Russell says the second part of 2024 will be about building towards next season, hoping Mercedes can challenge for titles.
The Silver Arrows entered the current season with great hope that they could return to a position to win, and therefore start a new title winning streak that was interrupted by the introduction of the ground effect.
The change in the design of the car encouraged the top people to start with a much more aggressive development and take on Red Bull. However, at the beginning of the season, they experienced an unpleasant surprise again.
Mercedes was again quite far from the current champions, but in front of them were Ferrari and McLaren, so they were the fourth fastest team on the grid.
Although such a situation befell them, statements came from Mercedes that the correlation between the simulations and the track does not show them the real state of things on the track, and that it is necessary to make an additional effort to correct it.
The German team gradually began to solve their problems, and if they were confident in their progress, they brought upgrades to the Monaco Grand Prix, a track that is not suitable for testing.
But already on the next race weekend in Canada, Russell surprised everyone with his performance, winning the first pole position and the first podium of the season.
It didn’t take long for the first victory either, which came at the Austrian Grand Prix as a result of the collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, which Russell accepted with open arms and crossed the finish line as first place.
However, confirmation that the Silver Arrows are back. Before going on the summer break, the German team recorded 3 wins in 4 races – something that has returned this team to a serious contender for wins in the 2nd part of the season as well.
Russell himself is looking forward to the remaining 10 races where he will build his performance towards 2025, to put himself in a position to launch an attack on the title.
“Yes, absolutely. Absolutely,” Russell told RN365 when asked about the rest of 2024 if it was laying the groundwork for next year’s title challenge.
“It was a difficult few years for all of us to bring the car to a place where we can constantly fight for wins.”
“But I’m motivated, so excited for the second half of the season, which ultimately continues towards 2025, and when you look at the competition now, there’s no reason why we can’t fight [for the title],” he pointed out.
“If the season had started in Montreal, the championship standings would have looked very, very different, so that will be great.”
“There is so much motivation from all the other teams to get back to the top, from McLaren, from Ferrari, from ourselves. Therefore, it will certainly not be easy, and we hope to see a good fight on our hands next year,” added George Russell.
