Photo: Race Pictures

Russell throws down the gauntlet to Verstappen as new season looms

13:01, 03 Feb

byTobia Elia

George Russell feels no pressure from being labelled the title favourite and says he is eager to go head-to-head with Verstappen and Norris.

“I do want to go head-to-head with Max, and obviously Lando had a great season last year”

- George Russell

Speaking to GPblog among a small group of selected media, the Mercedes driver said he feels ready for the challenge: “I'd love for it to turn out that way. I do want to go head-to-head with Max, and obviously Lando had a great season last year. But no, it didn’t add any more pressure.

“I think probably the fans and people were expecting it to potentially be Mercedes versus McLaren because there was a lot of anticipation that Mercedes would clearly have the best power unit, but it seems like the other power unit manufacturers have done a good job.

“Red Bull have always had an amazing car, even through the years of dominance of Mercedes. It was their engine that was letting them down, not their car, and we obviously know how good Max is.

He finally added that, in his view, Verstappen will once again be right in the mix this season: “I think he’s very much going to be in the fight this year. You obviously wish that you’d have a slightly easier time of it, but it should never be easy. If you’re going to win, you want to have fought for it and won it fair and square on track.”

Photo: Race Pictures

Russell warns of rivals after Red Bull and Ferrari's strong Barcelona performance

Despite completing a productive test session in Barcelona — topping the mileage charts and setting the third-fastest time overall — the Briton is still reluctant to draw early conclusions before seeing what his rivals are capable of.

“In the early days like this, you can sort of highlight those negatives early on. We don't believe it is. But is it a car that can produce a world championship? It's still way too early to see,” he said.

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