Russell: 'Ferrari and Red Bull will find a way past'

George Russell hopes to win his first Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday. Whether he will be able to do so remains to be seen, as the Ferrari's and Max Verstappen will do everything in their power to beat Mercedes.

"We're not planning to defend and we're just driving off into the sunset. But I know the guys around me and even Max, they're not going to make it easy", Russell says during the FIA press conference.

The Mercedes driver took pole position in spectacular fashion on Saturday. Nobody saw this performance from Mercedes coming, because during the free practice sessions, Russell and Lewis Hamilton seemed to have trouble warming up the tyres and finding grip. In qualifying, however, they did better than the top two teams.

Overall, Mercedes have repeatedly had a better race pace than qualifying pace this season. However, the team has often had to take advantage of mistakes by Ferrari and Red Bull Racing to finish on the podium. It will be a tough task for Russell to keep the top teams behind him.