Mercedes’ George Russell questioned whether Red Bull showed the true potential of their car in their dominance Miami Grand Prix win.
Max Verstappen came from ninth on the grid to win the race by 5.384 seconds over his team mate Sergio Perez, who had started on pole. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished third, 26s behind Verstappen.
Russell was almost seven seconds further behind in fourth, having started sixth. His team mate Lewis Hamilton was another 18s back in sixth.
However Russell was pleased with his result following a difficult start to the weekend for Mercedes. “P4 in those circumstances we probably wasn’t expecting,” he told media including RaceFans afterwards. “Really quite a satisfying race.
He passed Carlos Sainz Jnr, who started third, to secure his fourth place in the race. “Good overtakes on the Alpines, good overtake on Carlos,” he said.
“The pace for us, relatively speaking, was strong. We couldn’t have done more today, so I’m proud of that, but of course we want more and we want races like this to be for the win.”
Russell “wasn’t very surprised” by Red Bull’s pace, as the team scored its fourth one-two finish from five races this season.
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“That’s where they are at the minute,” he reflected. “We said at the start of the season they’re so far ahead they’ve got it easy at the moment. I wonder if they’re even running full power or anything, they’re just so far ahead.”
Red Bull’s dominance is “a bit of a shame for the sport,” Russell believes. “But kudos to them for the good work that they’ve clearly done and shown what is possible when you get it right. So that’s what we’re going to be chasing, and see what we can achieve.”
The next track on the calendar is Imola, where Red Bull also won last year. Their Miami Grand Prix win was their 15th in the last 16 races, Russell’s Brazilian Grand Prix victory being Red Bull’s only defeat during that time.
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