After a disappoint🅠ing year by Mercedes’ high standards in 2022, taking just one win, Mercedes went into 2023 with greater optimism.

However, it was🎐 apparent from pre-season testing that Mercedes wo🥃uld start the year on the backfoot.

Mercedes left the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix as the fourth-fastest team as they were ꦐovertaken by customer’s Aston Martin.

Reflecting on the m๊oment of realisation, Russell said: “I think the first time you realise is when you look at the lap times. 

“You drive around the track, the car can sometimes feel great, but the lap times aren't representi💫ng the🍃 feeling and vice versa. 

“I'm sure there's, even for championship-winning 🅺cars, they may not also fee🌜l perfect. We're just driving around at a slightly higher pace. 

“So I th🔴ink it was when we saw that the lap times weren't translating into what we expected."

With Mercedes slipping down the pecking order, Russell admitted the team immediately looked t🍷owards future꧃ upgrades.

"Aston Martin clea♕rly made a big jump, and we hadn't made the jump that we were expecting and needed to make changes quick," he added.

"So it was literally straight after the very fi﷽rst test in Bahrain. 

"We were already planning towards the changes th𒅌at are being impl♑emented, in Monaco and [in Spain]."