Russell warns Red Bull gap is even more ‘frightening’ than Wolff suggested

14:05, 13 Feb

Updated: 14:39, 13 Feb

byTobia Elia

George Russell echoed Toto Wolff’s view on the RB22’s competitiveness, highlighting Red Bull’s significant performance advantage at this stage.

“They're not just a small step ahead. You're talking in the order of half a second to a second in deployment over the course of a lap”

- George Russell

Speaking to GPblog among other media, the Brit is firmly convinced that Red Bull are the clear benchmark at the moment, with staggering gaps to the rest of the field.

“The truth is Red Bull in Barcelona day one hit the ground running and were well ahead of all of their competitors, so ourselves, Ferrari and the others. Day one here in Bahrain again, they sort of knocked out the park. At the moment, they're very much a team to beat.

“It's quite straightforward when you have three days of testing in the same location to make those improvements, but when you get to Melbourne and you've got three practice sessions, you've got three hours of practice before qualifying, based on what we've seen in Barcelona and Bahrain, Red Bull are going to be ahead.”

Photo: Race Pictures

He also added: “I don't think anybody should really be looking at us. You should be looking at the most competitive car on the grid, which right now is the Red Bull.

“They're not just a small step ahead. You're talking in the order of half a second to a second in deployment over the course of a lap. So it's pretty scary to see that difference. Red Bull have always delivered a very good car over the past 15 years even when they didn't have a great engine so this test has been really eye-opening for a lot of us.”

Red Bull firmly shut down Wolff narrative: 'We are not the benchmark'

Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché took a firm stance in rejecting Wolff’s suggestion that the RB22 currently represents the benchmark for the rest of the grid.

When asked where Red Bull believes it stands in the current pecking order, Waché told GPblog among other media: “It's difficult to say. We are not the benchmark, for sure. You see clearly the top three teams, Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren, are in front of us, looks like from what our analysis is, and we are behind. There is where we think we are at the moment.”

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