Russell enters the new season in a different role than in the previous three years with Mercedes, as he has been recognized as the team’s leader following the departure of Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton moved to Ferrari after losing faith in Mercedes due to their problems since the 2022 technical regulations change, which coincided with Russell’s arrival.
The German team achieved four victories in 2024, but the W15 car had major fluctuations in performance, which ultimately led them to fourth place in the constructors’ standings.
However, Russell stressed that Mercedes had been more thorough than ever in its preparations this winter to reduce the possibility of unexpected problems.
The Briton claims that he will be able to assess whether this approach has brought results during the first laps in the W16 car during pre-season testing.
“I think you know after five rounds whether you’re going to have a good season or not,” Russell said at the unveiling of all the teams’ livery in London.
“And during the first five rounds of the last couple of years we knew we weren’t going to fight for the title. Or at least we knew we weren’t going to fight at the start of the season. So I feel like, like I said, we’ve had a much more fundamental approach this time, but all the teams are extremely competitive now.”
“And everyone is aware of the constraints they have faced over the last three years.”
Mercedes expects “good progress” in 2025.
Russell revealed that wind tunnel simulations showed that his team could make significant progress on the end of last season. However, he warned that data correlation issues with the current cars meant there was no guarantee that this progress would translate to the track.
“If we deliver the performance we expect, that should be a good step forward,” he explains. “But we’ve seen a lot of teams bring in upgrades and they don’t work.”
“So there are never any guarantees, but as a team we went through a big crisis in 2023 when we didn’t win a single race. There was a big reorganisation, and James Allison [Mercedes technical director] came back and really pushed the new approach forward.”
“I hope we see some of that as early as 2025. Obviously 2026 is a big year, but I’m optimistic that we can have a solid season.”
