Russell: Mercedes definitely had a car capable of winning.
The Mercedes driver thinks the world champions let the chance for a first victory of the season slip through their fingers at the 2022 Singapore GP
October 3, 2022
By Andrew Wright

Despite finishing last of the 14 drivers who crossed the line at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix, George Russell insists Mercedes had a car that could have won on merit around the Marina Bay circuit.

The world champions arrived in Singapore with cause for optimism but Russell‘s hopes of a first F1 victory went up in smoke after a brake issue in qualifying and a new engine meant he started from the pit lane, while Lewis Hamilton could only manage ninth after he locked up in pursuit of Carlos Sainz and ended up hitting the barrier at Turn 7.

“Firstly, confidence restored that we fixed the car today and we had our normal pace,” Russell told reporters. “We definitely had a car this weekend that was capable of winning.

‘The chance for a first victory of the season slipped through their fingers’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...-singapore-gp/


‘We had a car to win’ – Russell admits he and Mercedes missed a golden opportunity in Singapore.
George Russell reckons Mercedes could have claimed their first victory of the 2022 F1 season on merit at the Singapore Grand Prix, had he and his team executed a cleaner weekend.
03 October 2022
Formula 1.

Russell suffered a surprise Q2 exit at the Marina Bay Street Circuit as brake issues – which followed several off-track excursions in practice – scuppered his efforts, with Mercedes electing to turn his P11 grid spot into a pit lane start by fitting a host of new power unit elements.

Working his way up the order from the back of the field, Russell was the first driver to make the switch from intermediates to slicks as the wet-dry race developed, but any hopes of a points finish were dashed when he clashed with Haas driver Mick Schumacher and picked up a puncture.

After crossing the line as the final finisher in 14th, with the fastest lap to his name, Russell said: “We were in no man’s land, to be honest. Potentially it was [worth switching to slicks], because at the restart we were flying – I overtook three people on one lap after the Safety Car.”

‘We had a car to win’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...33FnW8oRD.html


George Russell: Mercedes driver confident over 2023 car design philosophy
Last Updated: 04/10/22 9:40am
SKY Sports.

George Russell has revealed a new "philosophy" Mercedes are working towards on their 2023 car design has left him confident of a return to contention next season.

Mercedes have endured, by their extremely-high standards, a dismal 2022 campaign, failing to challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull for both the drivers' and constructors' world championships.

A series of performance issues with the W13 has left Mercedes without a win going into the final five races of the season, while a poor weekend in Singapore saw them fall away from Ferrari in the battle for second in the constructors' standings.

‘Confident over 2023 car design philosophy’;

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12...ign-philosophy


Wolff reflects on 'tough lesson' for Mercedes in Singapore.
As they look to challenge Ferrari for P2 in the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits that the team's hopes have taken a knock following a challenging weekend for them at the Singapore Grand Prix.
‎03‎ ‎October‎ ‎17‎:‎00
Author RacingNews365 Staff

Wolff was left frustrated that Mercedes were unable to utilise the pace that the car had displayed during the weekend. "This season has given us several tough lessons – and today was another one," Wolff explained after the race.

"We started from opposite ends of the grid with our two cars, but we couldn't capitalise on the car's race pace with either of them, when it came to an end result. Lewis was fighting for the podium for much of the race – but also battling a car balance that was on a knife edge today, in difficult conditions and on the bumpy surface.”

"After he locked up and damaged the wing, the stop to change tyres and the nose cost him position – then he lost out even more when cars ahead pitted under Safety Car and jumped ahead. That left him stuck in a train of cars on very similar aged tyres, and he couldn't make up any ground.”

'Tough lesson';

https://racingnews365.com/wolff-refl...s-in-singapore


Mercedes dealt "tough lessons" in Singapore slip - Wolff
Monday 3 October 2022 18:10
Ewan Gale

After a power unit change triggered a pit lane start, Russell struggled to make progress in the wet opening stages of the race. A gamble in switching early to slicks failed to pay off before contact with Mick Schumacher's Haas left Russell outside of the points.

"We rolled the dice on dry tyres when he was running out of the points," said Wolff. "In hindsight, it was clearly too early, but he had nothing to lose, so we were prepared to take the gamble. "Even so, as the race unfolded, he was still on course to make it back to the points until the collision with Mick, which put him last on the road.”

"The biggest frustration is that we couldn't build on the signs of competitive performance we saw in FP2 and in qualifying." With Ferrari securing a double podium, Mercedes' hopes of clinching second in the constructors' championship is now a steep climb as it trails the Scuderia by 67 points.

‘We rolled the dice on dry tyres’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/92...es-toto-wolff/


Toto Wolff offers excuse for Lewis Hamilton’s shocking performance
Sir Lewis Hamilton finished ninth in Singapore, while George Russell slumped to P14.
4 October 2022
by James Clifford

Hamilton lost third off the start to Carlos Sainz and, in his haste to pass the Spaniard, locked up at Turn Seven, sailing off into the barrier. Somewhat remarkably, he was able to continue with some damage to his front wing, but he later had a sideways moment while trying to leapfrog Sebastian Vettel.


Toto Wolff: “Lewis was fighting for the podium for much of the race – but also battling a car balance that was on a knife edge today, in difficult conditions and on the bumpy surface. After he locked up and damaged the wing, the stop to change tyres and the nose cost him position, then he lost out even more when cars ahead pitted under Safety Car and jumped ahead.”

“That left him stuck in a train of cars on very similar aged tyres, and he couldn’t make up any ground. The biggest frustration today is that we couldn’t build on the signs of competitive performance we saw in FP2 and in qualifying.”

‘Toto Wolff offers excuse’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/toto-wolf...g-performance/