Mercedes looks back at '24: 'We missed a lot of chances'

Mercedes will fight for that coveted second spot in the constructors' championship until the last Grand Prix. Four points separate the team of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell with Ferrari. Should the German team finish second in the final standings, there will still be some kind of "all's well that ends well". Because Mercedes did not win (as yet), but a second place would have maximised optimisation behind the unapproachable Red Bull Racing.

"It's been a very, very strange season," concluded George Russell. "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, so 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," Russell added.

"When you're on the back foot you tend to have bad luck and 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," the Brit said.

So a Grand Prix victory failed to materialise, unlike a year earlier. Then Mercedes also started the season badly, but at some point there was a reward for hard work. "I think we finished in the top five more than any other driver, and this year I feel that I've upped my game. We’ve been on the back foot but we definitely have more competition this year with McLaren joining the fight in the second half, Aston being there at the start of the season but ultimately, we're looking forward to getting through this weekend trying to cement that P2 in the championship and then eyes on next year."