The ongoing battle between Red Bull and Mercedes is moving on to the next phase. The red-white-red racing team is suspected by the Silver Arrows of being a trick.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen on Saturday was only two tenths faster than George Russell in qualifying in Australia GP.
Lewis Hamilton came in second place behind Verstappen as Mercedes shocked everyone by keeping up the pace throughout the race. Red Bull, in the opinion of Mercedes, is purposefully not reaching its full potential.
“Certainly they’re holding back. I think they are almost embarrassed to show their full potential because the faster they seem, the more that the sport is going to try and hold them back somehow.” Russell said.
“I think realistically they probably have seven-tenths advantage over the rest of the field. I don’t know what the pace difference looks like at the moment but Max has got no reason to be pushing it nor has Red Bull.
“They’ve done a really great job to be fair to them. We can’t take that away, and we clearly have to up our game.” Russell added.
The Red Bull counterattack was not long in coming, team boss Christian Horner shoots back, sharply.
“I find that thesis very generous of him. I guess as a Mercedes driver he knows about dominance.” Horner said.
Red Bull have won the first three races this year, with Verstappen wins in Bahrain and Australia while Sergio Perez was top of the podium in Saudi Arabia.
Russell retired for the first time in Australia following the start of the British Grand Prix in 2022. Since then, he has won a race, placed on the podium four times, and missed only one opportunity to earn points.
“Bitterly disappointed, to be honest. I felt like everything we did, we absolutely maximised. Qualifying performance was brilliant, and the start was great.” Russell said.
