Mercedes will want to believe that the 2022 season was an aberration for them. The horrors of the W13 and the almost winless season in the midfield brought back their initial struggling days in F1. Nevertheless, the team is capable of turning the tables quite consistently. And their prodigy George Russell believes in the same spirit. Russell is also flying high after a stellar first season for the Silver Arrows and has fired a warning to the team’s rivals Red Bull and Ferrari.

Talking to Autosport, George provided an update on how Mercedes is planning to make a comeback to the front next season. He reasoned how the Brackley squad was able to close the gap to their rivals Red Bull and Ferrari to some extent in 2022. Thus, at that rate, it is totally possible that can be a title contender in 2023.

As per Russell, the team has planned to reduce the deficit to Red Bull and Ferrari. The Briton said, “We’ve [Mercedes] been pretty clear now for about two months which targets we have to hit in terms of [car] development. And I am pretty confident if we do achieve that, we will have a car that we can compete with Red Bull.”

Mercedes were relatively quicker in the latter half of the 2022 season, given where they started in terms of pace. While Russell took an amazing win in Brazil, both he and Lewis Hamilton had almost no reliability issues except for the final race.

Despite 22 Rounds of Struggle, George Russell Reveals Mercedes Masterplan Continues With Controversial Concept

Still, the Silver Arrows have a tough job to make its unique no-side pod concept work. The team has made a bold call to retain this concept for the W14 challengers in 2023. But time will tell whether they can tackle the challenge of Red Bull’s arguably faster RB19.

How are Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari developing their cars for the 2023 season

Mercedes would love to develop the W14 and close off the gap to its main rivals at the top. Though, those rivals won’t back down as they have continued to find more pace.

As per reports by Planet F1, the Red Bull RB19 can be lighter. Specifically, the Milton Keynes outfit has probably got a lighter chassis relative to the RB18. The 2023 car is rumored to be 3kg lighter that its predecessor. So, even if Mercedes managed to close off the deficit, there will be a possibility that Red Bull is still faster than them.

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On the other hand, Ferrari seems to increase the power and reliability of its engine. As per La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Scuderia also may have a change in its aero concept. There are possibilities of a narrower chassis and a new gearbox design for the Scarlet cars.

While on the engine side, the Italian team may probably unlock 30 hp more with reliability upgrades. Ferrari was not lucky with its power unit’s reliability in 2022, suffering multiple engine failures.

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So, Mercedes have an uphill battle to climb, even if they find pace improvement over their 2022 car. It won’t be easy to tackle the additional boost Red Bull and Ferrari might get with their 2023 developments. What do you think? Can the Silver Arrows stage a title fight in 2023?