Russell: 'If it was a fight for the win, this was a tremendous season'

Mercedes' George Russell balks at Red Bull Racing's dominance. Not only because it means he has little chance of race wins himself, but also because of the lack of competition for race wins. Indeed, behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, things are still very exciting.

Mercedes at least fighting for P3

Russell was unlucky to have been appointed just in the wrong year to the most dominant F1 team of the previous decade. He was just a year too late. The Briton joined Mercedes in 2022 and that year saw a particularly poor start to the season for the German marque. Russell did manage a victory in Brazil that year, but the start in 2023 was also poor.

Mercedes can compete for podiums despite this year's disappointing start. And that is not so bad, looking at Red Bull, which has won all five 2023 races so far. Russell balks at the rival team's dominance. When asked at the FIA press conference in Miami if he thinks he will win another race this year, he replied, "I'm confident we'll make progress."

Russell balks at Verstappen and Pérez

The Briton continued: "Of course we want the competition. I think the competition we've got at the moment between Ferrari and Aston Martin, every race we go to is really close between us in qualifying. The pace is really close in the race, and if that was a fight for the victory it would probably be one of the most exciting seasons we've seen in a long, long time."

Russell has patiently bided his time at Williams to make a big step forward in F1, but if it were up to him, everything in F1 would be levelled out and every team and driver would have an equal chance. "It's obviously just a shame that there are two more cars well out in front. Forget about those two and just watch the race for P3. It may be a bit more exciting but it's challenging. I think in no sport you never want to see somebody dominating, you want to have that competition and that's what we all want. In an ideal world you have 20 drivers and 10 teams all capable of winning."