Photo by Edmund So/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
After a vice-championship season, Lewis Hamilton and company are promising bigger things in 2024
It came down to the final lap of the 2023 Formula 1 season — and a post-race penalty on top of that — but in the end, Mercedes was able to edge out Ferrari for second in the tightly-contested battle for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.
Their margin of victory? Just three points.
But they were enough.
“It was a fight for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship up until the very end and so close and today feels like we’ve won. George’s driving was exceptional and Charles showed true sportsman-like [behavior], not trying to slow down,” said Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff in the team’s post-race media report. “Two great teams and brands that fought until the end. The fight for P2 in the Constructor’s in a way was so positive for us and a huge reward for the whole team to be vice champion, but it’s also a big motivation to do better next year and that’s what we will focus on now.”
In the end it was a third-place finish from George Russell — just his second podium finish of the season — that helped put Mercedes over the top. Even that was close, as alluded to by Wolff above. Late in the race Sergio Pérez was charging towards the front, but facing a five-second penalty for a collision with Lando Norris. If Pérez finished third ahead of Russell, with Leclerc in second, that would have been enough for Ferrari.
So Leclerc let Pérez by, and Russell (along with the rest of Mercedes) thought that Leclerc might try and slow up the Mercedes driver. But Leclerc — in rather sporting fashion — raced hard until the end.
“It was all in the last few minutes because Checo [Pérez] had a five-second penalty,” Leclerc explained after the race. “We had to help him in a way for him to finish in front of George with the five seconds. I tried to give him the DRS and a slipstream, but that unfortunately wasn’t enough.”
Russell applauded Leclerc, as well as the result for Mercedes, after the race.
“Today’s result means a huge amount and I’m really pleased we’ve secured P2 for the team. There are so many people back at the factory in Brackley and Brixworth, who have worked so hard to achieve this,” said Russell.
“It’s been a really challenging season for us. I’ve let the side down a couple of times this year so I’m pleased to bring it across the line today. It was really intense at the end and so close with Perez, his pace was just great,” added the Mercedes driver. “I thought Charles was going to back me up but respect to him for keeping it clean. I’m happy to end the season this way with a podium.”
As for Lewis Hamilton, Abu Dhabi brought a ninth-place finish, and renewed hope for what the future may have in store for the team.
“I’m happy for the team that we’ve managed to secure P2 in the Constructor’s Championship, it was a great effort by the team at track and both in Brackley and Brixworth,” described Hamilton.
“But we’re not we’re we want to be yet, we want to be competing for the championship and race wins and this weekend showed that we need to dig deep and work hard during the winter to get back to where we want to be and come back stronger next year,” added the seven-time champion. “I hope everyone at the factory is happy with the result today and I’m grateful for all the hard work the team has put into this season, it’s been a long and tough year for us.”
Now, following some rest, the team will turn their energy to the 2024 campaign. That oo may provide some solace for both Russell and Hamilton, as both drivers were fighting the W14, the team’s challenger for the 2023 season, throughout the season.
Both may be very happy to see the arrival of the W15 early next year.
“It’s nice to finish the season ahead of Ferrari but we’re under no illusion of the gap ahead is large and the whole team is focused on closing down that gap. We will work hard ahead of next season and give it our best to make that happen,” said Andrew Shovlin, the team’s Trackside Engineering Director.
“We have so much good things in the pipeline, so much new things and with all the learning we had I am really, really in a good place to see what’s coming together,” added Wolff.
“We’ve got to take the momentum now from the third place here, P2 in the championship and then take that into the factories,” concluded the Mercedes boss. “We’re vice champions and that’s a good one to take home – we got to reach for the stars and that’s going to happen, I promise.”
