George Russell says he is happy with the level of his performances so far in 2022, even though his Mercedes team cannot currently compete with the leading Ferrari and Red Bull outfits. Moving to Mercedes in the close season after three years learning his F1 trade with Williams, Russell has given the lie to those who thought he would struggle alongside seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Despite Mercedes having slipped back from the form that saw them win eight straight Constructors' Championships from 2014 to 2021, Russell says he is pleased with his 2022 form. The King's Lynn-born driver currently outscores Hamilton by 84 points to 50, and is the only driver to have finished in the top five in all seven Grands Prix so far this year. "I think if you told me prior to the season that we'd be seven races in and I wouldn't have a victory to my name, I would have definitely been a bit disappointed with that," Russell told media including RacingNews365.com . "But I think given the pace of the car and given where we've been as a team, I've been reasonably pleased with how I've performed. "I think the results have been maximised. I don't see many races where we could have achieved better results, but [there's] definitely room to improve."
Russell discusses F1 title ambitions
Russell added that he harboured ambitions to be in the title fight with the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers. "You are constantly striving for more when you understand the car and tyres more, and I want to fight for this championship," said Russell. "And when we've got to go against the likes of Max [Verstappen] at Red Bull and obviously Charles [Leclerc] is doing an extra extremely good job at the moment with Ferrari. "But as a team, we just need to keep on pushing, I need to keep on pushing personally. So, more to come."
Still 'room to improve'
Despite having outscored Hamilton so far in 2022, Russell added that he still felt he had more to extract from the Mercedes W13, and had no specific aim to beat his illustrious teammate. "I just focus on myself and try and do the best job possible, and wherever that leaves me, I'll sort of review from there," said Russell. "But obviously, I believe myself, I've still got a lot to improve. I don't feel like I'm truly optimising the package. "Compared to Lewis, I've got room to improve in a number of aspects and it gives me excitement to see what I can deliver a little bit later on in the season."
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