Motorsport: Motor racing-Russell hopes lightning strikes twice at Interlagos

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – George Russell is hoping lightning strikes twice at Interlagos as he returns to the scene of his only Formula One victory a year later and with Mercedes in a similar situation to last season.

The Briton gave the former champions their only win of 2022 at the Sao Paulo circuit and returns to Brazil with the team yet to triumph in 2023.

“I remember it like yesterday. I remember crossing the line, the emotions that go through your body at a lifelong dream,” he told Reuters in an interview at an event for team sponsor Petronas.

“I had grown adults in tears after that race because it had been such a long season of hard work, blood, sweat and tears. And we achieved it against all odds.

“And we find ourselves here 12 months later in a similar position so I’m hoping we can repeat that success,” added the 25-year-old.

Only Red Bull and Ferrari had won races last year until Russell led seven times world champion team mate Lewis Hamilton in a one-two at atmospheric Interlagos after also winning the sprint race.

This year again only Red Bull and Ferrari have stood on the top of the podium, although Red Bull have been so much more dominant that they have won all but one of the races and Mercedes are second overall instead of Ferrari.

Just as last year, Red Bull and Max Verstappen have clinched both titles already.

“It’s been a really challenging year, we made some mistakes with the car development over last winter,” said Russell. “And I’m confident going into 2024 we’ll be in a much stronger position.

“But now we have three races remaining and Brazil is an important one as it’s a sprint race weekend, more points on offer and we’re so motivated to try and achieve a fantastic result.”

Russell said it felt like a season of many missed opportunities, although the team were still second overall, and the goal now was to be back with a bang in 2024.

“We hope to go into 2024 on the front foot,” he said. “The last two seasons we’ve had unforeseen problems with the car and now it’s been stable regulations, the car next year is not too dissimilar so there shouldn’t be any unexpected problems.

“I think these limitations we’ve had in the last two years, and the issues we’ve faced, have made us stronger as a team, as individuals.”

(Writing by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)