After the high of his maiden Formula 1 race victory in Brazil, George Russell and his Mercedes team were brought crashing back down to earth a week later.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix did not yield the joy the Silver Arrows had experienced at Interlagos. It became clear early on in the final weekend of the season that they would most likely not be matching the one-two finish that Russell and Lewis Hamilton delivered the previous Sunday.
Instead, they started fifth and sixth on the grid and Russell immediately lost ground to Lando Norris. He got the place back from his friend and fellow Brit, but could only manage to finish fifth while Hamilton had to retire with a few laps to go due to a hydraulics issue.
After the race, Russell pointed to the result and their performance as evidence that there is still much more work to be done for Mercedes despite their day in the sun in Sao Paulo. Asked if a podium was possible in Abu Dhabi, he replied: "Yeah, definitely, if things panned out slightly differently.
"We made a strong start but just went the wrong place and lost out to Lando and then had some pace but with the pit stop that was the race over with really. [It was a] long, tough, fatiguing race. Glad to have seen the chequered flag.
"I'm really proud of the work and development we've done as a team this season. For sure this was a bit of a reality check for all of us that there is still a long way to go, but we are all looking forward to the off season now."
From their spine-battering porpoising issues to a general lack of pace, 2022 has largely been a year to forget for Mercedes. But in his first year with the team Russell has still impressed with his consistency, finishing about Hamilton in the standings and finishing in the top five in 19 of the 22 races.
Looking back on the year, Russell preferred to focus on the positives and referred to the bad times as "character-building". He added: "I think it's obviously been a character-building season for us as a race team, but we've got so many positives to look back on.
"For me personally, first pole, first victory – given the season we've had, that's a huge achievement. But we all have very high expectations. In this team, I have very high expectations of myself, and we know we have to raise the bar in [2023] if we want to fight with the guys in blue [Red Bull]."
