Red Bull must hurry: 'This could easily develop into a three-way fight'

Mercedes driver George Russell is second in the world championship, despite the large-scale problems plaguing him and Lewis Hamilton. According to Mika Hakkinen, Red Bull Racing needs to hurry up with solving the reliability problems before they get into it with the German racing stable as well.

Hakkinen is particularly surprised by Russell's strong performance in Australia. "It's really surprising to see him second in the world championship, but his consistency and the reliability of the car are impressive," he says in his Unibet-column.

Russell finished fourth, fifth and third respectively in the first three races of the year. "It’s also noticeable that he is ahead of Lewis Hamilton, although the Safety Car had a big influence in Melbourne," continued the Finn, who incidentally doesn't think that's necessarily a reflection of the relative performances of both drivers.

Hakkinen stresses that Russell and Hamilton are both doing a "fantastic job" for Mercedes while the team solves its performance problems. "That's another reason why Red Bull needs to solve their reliability problems," warns the former Formula One driver. He still sees plenty of opportunities for the championship to grow into a three-way battle.