GEORGE RUSSELL is confident Mercedes can challenge Red Bull in the 2023 F1 season.
Him and team-mate Lewis Hamilton managed just one victory between them in 2022, and that came in the penultimate race when Russell won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Seven-time champ Hamilton failed to win a single race for the first time EVER, finishing a career-low sixth, two places behind Russell.
The season was dominated by Max Verstappen and Red Bull, who won 17 of the 22 races.
As a result, they finished a massive 244 points ahead of Mercedes in the constructors standings.
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Despite the team's worst season for a decade, Russell is optimistic they will come back stronger in 2023.
Asked if Mercedes can challenge for the title, he told Crash: "I think when you look at the development we have brought this year, and the rate at which we've closed the gap, there's nothing telling us we can't achieve this.
"We've been pretty clear now for about two months which targets we have to hit in terms of development.
"And I am pretty confident if we do achieve that, we will have a car that we can compete with Red Bull.
"At the start of this year, we qualified behind Alfa, behind Haas.
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"I remember in Imola, I finished fourth but I was the same pace as Lando [Norris] and I had Valtteri [Bottas] chasing me down in the Alfa.
"They were quicker than us in that race and Lewis was in P10 or P9.
"But you look at us now and where we are in comparison to those cars that probably haven't had the similar development as the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull, we've made massive strides.
"The fact now we are in a position to fight for race victories shows a lot. So, I've got every bit of confidence in this team.
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"Maybe straight out of the blocks, we weren't the fastest car because of where we were coming from.
"But the rate of development, I've got every hope that we can definitely fight for the championship next year."
The 2023 season kicks off with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 5.
