F1: Mercedes ‘fired up to bounce back’ – Gulf Digital News

F1: Mercedes ‘fired up to bounce back’ – Gulf Digital News

LONDON: Briton George Russell said his new Mercedes team were heading into the 2022 Formula One season fired up to bounce back from Lewis Hamilton’s controversial title defeat in Abu Dhabi.

The squad extended their streak of record constructors’ title wins to eight last year but failed to make it a successive eighth title double after a controversial safety car call allowed Red Bull rival Max Verstappen to pass Hamilton on the last lap of the season-ending Abu Dhabi race to score his first championship triumph.

The loss was the dominant team’s first championship defeat of the turbo hybrid era that began in 2014. It denied them a clean sweep of titles in the final year under those rules, with 2022 ushering in a radical regulation overhaul.

“I think following the conclusion of last year, there’s so much motivation and fire within the whole factory to bounce back,” said Russell in a pre-recorded interview released by Mercedes. “And that is incredible for me to see.”

Russell, whose career has been supported by Mercedes, joins the Brackley-based squad after three years at power unit customer Williams where he had been placed to learn the ropes.

The 23-year-old put in a cameo as a stand-in for