Russell on faster Mercedes: 'Magic is not in the sidepods'

Red Bull Racing is the dominant force in the current state of Formula 1. The team won all the races, took six out of seven pole positions and has almost double the number of points of number two in the constructors' championship, Mercedes. George Russell believes that even without the much-discussed sidepods, Red Bull will be the fastest of the field.

Red Bull seemed more dominant than ever in Barcelona, at least in the hands of Max Verstappen. Whereas in previous race often the competition could still get reasonably close to the Austrian team in qualifying, in Spain Red Bull did not even want to send Verstappen out for a final lap in Q3, so big was the lead after the first fast run.

In Monaco, Mercedes came out with a massive upgrade. Notable among these was that the W14 suddenly had sidepods, with this the German constructor renounced the innovative 'zeropods' concept. With the new sidepods on the Mercedes car, the German team seems to be following the concept of the dominant RB19.

"It’s not the sidepods that make the difference. It may be a factor, but the magic isn’t in the sidepods. The magic was done underneath the car, on the floor. That’s the same for every single team. I’m sure Red Bull could put no sidepods on their car and still be the quickest," Russell told Sky Sports.