Russell Calls Red Bull “The Team To Beat”, Antonelli Adds A Key Caveat
George Russell says Red Bull’s form over the last three weeks has been very impressive and that they are now the team to beat. His team mate Antonelli adds that part of this is down to Mercedes not yet extracting the full potential from its upgrade.
Formula 1’s Asian triple-header has gone particularly well for Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver finished just 0.196 seconds behind Russell in Baku before going on to claim convincing victories in Malaysia and Singapore. The rise began with the upgrade Red Bull brought to Baku, its final major package for the RB22, which delivered an immediate and significant step forward. The upgrade Mercedes introduced in the same period did not deliver the expected result.
Speaking after the race, George Russell said Mercedes’ main focus is now on understanding how to find more performance. In his view, Red Bull’s form over the last three weeks has been very impressive on three very different circuits, and right now they are the team to beat.
In Singapore, Russell ran the old-specification car while team mate Kimi Antonelli used the new upgrade, in order to gather comparative data and find answers. The preliminary conclusion is that the upgrade does offer greater potential, but the operating window in which that potential can be unlocked is extremely narrow. Russell said the team needs to understand how to make it work.
When Motorsport.com put those comments to championship leader Antonelli, he stressed that the situation was closely tied to Mercedes’ own learning process with the upgrade. According to ESPN, Antonelli accepted that Red Bull has taken an incredible step forward and that Verstappen is more comfortable with the car and extracting more from it. Still, he said recent results are probably mostly down to Mercedes not extracting the maximum from its new package, adding that it is a combination of things.
Antonelli is pleased with the progress made in Singapore in understanding the upgrade, particularly given the many question marks that remained after Malaysia. He said the team did an incredible job over the weekend putting the car in a better place and giving him confidence, and that it is now a starting point to keep working and extract the potential.
Red Bull itself downplayed the “team to beat” label. According to ESPN, the team’s management said it has completed its update programme for this year, so the pecking order could change quickly if rivals bring upgrades. ESPN’s report names Oscar Piastri among those who have made the same assessment as Russell.