Russell remains realistic: 'I would be shocked if we are closer'

Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to get involved in the battle at the head of the field this weekend, but his team-mate George Russell is less convinced. He sees Mercedes making clear strides but says he will be 'shocked' if his team can really make things difficult for the leaders in France.

Russell with both feet on the ground

Russell believes Mercedes' chances are being 'hyped up', possibly to put pressure on the team. Earlier this week, Damon Hill even predicted that the German team could score a one-two in France. "The honest answer is we don't really know," Russell told Sky Sports.

The 24-year-old Briton suspects the gap will be relatively smaller than it was in Austria. "Austria is a short lap, so the lap time difference didn't seem that substantial," he acknowledges. As a result, Russell does not expect to be able to compete with Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. "If we get everything right, we could be within two tenths, but I'd be shocked if we were any closer than that," the Mercedes driver said.

Mercedes made a big step with its update package at Silverstone and also proved quite competitive that weekend, but were helped during the race by the fact that Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were driving damaged cars. In Austria, the pace of the front-runners still proved too much for the W13, but the Circuit Paul Ricard should suit it better.