George Russell has described his 2023 Formula 1 campaign as “one of the worst seasons of my career”.
Russell ended the season eighth in the Drivers' Championship while his seven-time World Champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton was third.
Mercedes' endured its first winless season since 2011 as it continued to compete off the front-running pace, taking a dip in form ever since new technical regulations were introduced last year.
Despite having a strong end to the campaign in Abu Dhabi, Russell told Sky Sports that it was "one of the worst seasons of my career".
The Briton, who will enter his third F1 season with Mercedes next year, denies that bad luck was behind his woes.
“There's a reason every single race [for the issues], whether it's me crashing into a wall [in Singapore] or the rain coming down in Zandvoort on the wrong lap or the engine breaking down in Melbourne.
"It's just tiny little things which you can say 'Easy to rectify that'.
"But when it happens once or twice, you can put it down to bad luck. When it happens on maybe nine, 10, 11 occasions throughout the year, it's definitely not luck.
"Ultimately, the car isn't quick enough. We need to keep on pushing. When the competition's so high, one small mistake and you drop a number of places."
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