Why Mercedes having “so many problems” gives Russell “hope” for 2024

Mercedes are on course for their first season without an F1 win since 2011.

While they sit second in the F1 2023 constructors’ championship with two rounds to go, they’ve failed to hit the highs of even Ferrari - who have won a race - and McLaren - who have finished second on seven occasions.

Mercedes are changing their car concept for 2024 as they look to return to title-winning contention.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, Russell explained that Mercedes “know why we’re slow” and that gives him confidence.

“We’re not sitting here thinking why we’re slow,” Russell told Sky Sports. “We know why we’re slow. 

“We have so many issues with this car and have so many problems that we want to solve, so that gives us hope that if we do solve them we can make a big step forward.”

Mercedes endured their worst weekend of the year last time out in Sao Paulo, finishing a disappointing eighth on track with Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton is confident Mercedes have learned their lesson - but is unsure whether the can challenge Red Bull for the victory in Las Vegas.

“We 100 per cent know what went wrong there,” he added. “But, still, we didn’t do a job. A lot of learnings from it in terms of where we need to go, where we need to develop. Through failure, you mostly learn from those experiences. 

“Coming here, we hopefully have a better approach but we still don’t know how it’s going to be here. It’s still not a world-championship winning car and I still don’t think it’s a race-winning car still.”