“It’s far from reality” - Russell defensive over Mercedes being a “failure”

Mercedes sit second in the constructors’ championship after 12 rounds in F1 2023, 51 points ahead of Aston Martin.

Despite their P2 position, they’ve not been able to challenge Red Bull at all for race victories.

Red Bull are currently invincible - winning 12 out of 12 - with Max Verstappen winning the last eight in a row.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Russell conceded it’s not where Mercedes want to be but was keen to point out it’s not been a total failure.

“As a team we’ve gone from strength to strength,” he said. “There were a lot of expectations of us, going into the season. Perhaps that’s why people are calling our season a bit of a failure. Of course, it’s far from where we want it to be, because we want to be fighting for championships. 

“But to call P2 in the championship, 50 points ahead of P3, a failure? It’s far from a reality. We know that we’ve got a lot to improve. In the second half of the season, hopefully we can be there to pick up any pieces. 

“You never know. Last year we had the mentality that Singapore would be our only opportunity to win. 

“When we didn’t win there was disappointment and no expectation going into Brazil, but we came away with the victory there.”

While Mercedes sit comfortably second, they’ve often not had the second-fastest car.

Aston Martin were Red Bull’s nearest challengers consistently in the first eight races, while Ferrari and McLaren have sporadically took that title.

“It’s close between us, Aston Martin, Ferrari and McLaren,” he added. “We’re consistently there fighting between the second and third fastest teams. 

“Our team have done an amazing job to maximise points. 

“I’m not going to say we’re the second fastest team, but we’re in a strong position to secure P2.”