George Russell makes a SHOCKING claim ahead of Austrian GP, says Red Bull’s performance has dropped

Red Bull won a race by their smallest margin yet of 9 seconds at the recent Canadian GP.

George Russell makes a SHOCKING claim ahead of Austrian GP, says Red Bull’s performance has dropped

George Russell and Max Verstappen (Credits: SI)

Mercedes star George Russell is optimistic about Mercedes’ progress in catching up with Red Bull, claiming that their rivals have shown promising signs of regression since the beginning of the season. In Canada, the time gap to Max Verstappen was below 15 seconds for the first time under regular checkered flag conditions, while during most races this season, it had been over 20 seconds.

When speaking to RacingNews365, although Mercedes has been steadily improving their performance this year, George Russell has warned that there is still a significant distance to cover before they can genuinely contend for victories based on their merit. However, albeit by a small margin, Russell asserts that Red Bull has taken a step back.

He said, “It feels like to a degree they’re coming a little bit closer to us. When you look at the average compared to the whole field, for whatever reason it seems like Red Bull may have taken a small step back. When they’re three steps ahead, they’re now two steps ahead. So they’ve still got a lot of margin.”

“I was told recently that they’ve [Red Bull] won the last 17 out of 18 races, so they’re cruising at the moment. They’re doing a really good job, but hopefully it’s not too long until we can turn the tide,” Russell added. Thus, the Briton is hopeful of the British outfit catching up to leaders Max Verstappen and Red Bull as soon as possible.

Related: James Allison insists that the zero sidepods concept was not the reason for Mercedes’ downfall despite an upturn in form after ditching it

Lewis Hamilton is pleased with Mercedes’ steady progress

Lewis Hamilton (Credits: The Independent)
Lewis Hamilton (Credits: The Independent)

38-year-old Lewis Hamilton has expressed a notable increase in satisfaction with the handling of the Mercedes W14, thanks to the series of upgrades implemented by his team. Previously vocal about his dissatisfaction with the handling of last year’s Mercedes W13 and the current W14, Hamilton now states that the team’s recent shift in philosophy has boosted his confidence in the car’s handling abilities.

Despite Lewis Hamilton openly expressing his dissatisfaction with the car’s handling in the past, with the introduction of upgrades and the team’s evident progress in performance, he has been able to tap into his talent more effectively than in previous months. This suggests that Hamilton can now extract closer to his full potential with the improved car.

He said, “Well, you know I’ve not been happy in the car for the past year and a bit. The step we took with the car has moved it more in the direction that I’ve been asking for, and so I’m slowly rebuilding confidence in the platform that I have. It’s still not 100%, and I’m still not able to extract the full potential for myself, but we’re getting there.”

With the car and driver more in harmony with each other, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will seek to take the fight to Aston Martin as well as Red Bull to push for a third consecutive podium for the team. The Constructors’ championship fight for P2 between AMR and Mercedes is tight, and a podium for Mercedes will undoubtedly help their endeavors.

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