Russell: 'Lady luck' will be with us in 2024 after 'strange' season

George Russell has reflected on a “very, very strange” Formula 1 season that saw him slip to eighth in the Drivers' Championship.

It was a challenging second campaign at Mercedes for Russell as he ended the year 59 points down on team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with Russell left ruing a number of missed opportunities during the year including reliability-related retirements in Australia, Canada and Brazil.

He also missed out on a podium result in Singapore after hitting the wall on the final lap while chasing a potential race win and hit the wall while running fourth in Canada, bagging just two podiums all season.

Mercedes had its first winless campaign in F1 since 2011 but managed to cling on to second place in the Constructors' standings despite pressure from Ferrari.

As he aims to enjoy a stronger year in 2024, Russell asserted there are areas that Mercedes can learn ahead of the new campaign.

“It's been a very, very strange season. It’s been a season where we've had a lot of pace at times, but never achieved the results that I felt were deserved, or were possible,” he told media including RacingNews365.

“So we definitely need to try and understand why that was. There's been a huge amount of missed opportunities, in many regards.

“It really hasn't been a smooth season. But I think when everything's flowing, when everything's working, right, luck tends to be on your side.

“But when, you know, you're on the backfoot, you tend to have bad luck.

“I'm not one for believing in luck. I think you make your own luck. So we just need to be faster. And Lady Luck will be with us.”