Russell reveals 'motivation' behind Mercedes comeback

George Russell believes Mercedes has understood why it is behind Red Bull and has faith it can make a comeback to winning regularly in Formula 1.

The W14 did not deliver on the team's expectations, delivering a winless year for the Silver Arrows for the first time since 2011.

After a car concept switch midway through the year, they managed to achieve a double podium at the Spanish Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton and Russell who came back from 12th on the grid.

It would be one of two occasions that Russell would stand on the podium, with the other coming at the Abu Dhabi where Mercedes managed to seal second in the Constructors' Championship.

Team Principal Toto Wolff has said their 2024 will be "completely different" with Russell echoing that when speaking to media, including RacingNews365: "The thing that gives us lots of motivation is we're not sat here thinking 'Why are we so far off the pace?'

"When we look at our car, we look at the flaws, and we look at the mistakes we've made, we totally understand how we've ended up in a position being half a second or more behind Red Bull."

Russell: We're not setting expectations too high

Russell feels its second place in the Constructors' Championship after beating Ferrari, who was the only non-Red Bull team to win a race this year, gives them motivation to work hard over the winter break.

"The fact that we're still second in the Constructors' Championship is pretty surprising," added Russell.

"But it gives us a lot of motivation going into next year, because if you have a problem on your hands and you believe you can solve it, the rewards can be great.

"We're not going to set our expectations too high, because we know we were caught out this year. But we all will believe that we can solve a lot of the problems we have currently."