Russell thinks Verstappen walks away with win: 'I really believe that'

George Russell does not expect Mercedes to compete for wins in the first few races. Speaking to the BBC Russell believes Max Verstappen is the clear-cut winner in his opinion.

The test days are in full swing, and although it is difficult to make sense of the times, some tentative conclusions can already be drawn about the form of the different teams.

For Russell, one thing is clear: Mercedes does not yet have things in order enough to be in contention for wins right away. "We definitely believe eventually, we will have a car capable of getting in that fight," explained the Briton. "Whether we're going to have that next weekend in Bahrain, I think may be a bit of a stretch."

'Max is obviously driving very well'

According to Russell, who can put up that fight is overwhelmingly Max Verstappen. "They look very strong, very stable," acknowledges the Mercedes driver. "The car is looking really strong and obviously Max is performing really well. So I think realistically, it will be a stretch for next week. But there's no reason why eventually we can't get there at some point this year, and we've always seen the strength of Mercedes and their development rates. So yeah, definitely. My belief is that."