A downbeat George Russell believes Red Bull’s championship victory is already a foregone conclusion after a single race.
The Mercedes driver said he is prepared to sacrifice this season in order to maximise the development the team can do to come back stronger next year.
“Red Bull have got this championship sewn up,” Russell told media including RaceFans. “I don’t think anybody’s going to be fighting with them this year and I expect them to win.
“They should win every single race this season is my bet. With the performance they’ve got, I don’t see anybody challenging. They’ve got it easy at the moment, they can do what they like.”
He thinks Red Bull may only face competition from their rivals on Saturdays. “They might not get on pole all of the time because we know that Ferrari are very competitive in qualifying,” he said, “but when it comes to race pace I think they’re in a very strong position.”
Russell finished today’s season-opening race in seventh, two places behind team mate Lewis Hamilton, who was 50 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen. He sees little chance of Mercedes getting on terms with Red Bull after their dominant one-two today.
“We’re here to win and we obviously want to optimise every single result,” he said. “But if you give me a choice between fighting and having a chance to win races whenever that is, versus slow progress and never having that chance, you obviously choose taking those victories.
“So if we’ve got to sacrifice some races or part of a season to give ourselves a chance to get a car that can fight, whether it’s the second half of the season or even if it’s looking towards next year, maybe that’s what we’re going to have to do because clearly we are a long way behind.”
This article will be updated
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