George Russell has been sceptical about the extent of Red Bull’s recent loss of dominance in the last few races.
After Charles Leclerc’s win in Monaco, Ferrari is optimistic about a stronger performance at the upcoming Austrian GP, while Mercedes is eager to validate its latest impressive upgrades and setup improvements.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” Lewis Hamilton commented in Austria, “but it feels good to be in a competitive position again.”
Max Verstappen, who has led the championship from the start, has conceded to reporters that he no longer sees Red Bull as the “number 1” team in 2024, instead assigning that distinction to McLaren.
Lando Norris, who recently moved up to second in the championship standings ahead of Leclerc, believes he had the potential to beat Verstappen’s Red Bull in the previous race in Barcelona.
“We can do it,” remarked Norris, who was suffering from a cold virus, when asked about the possibility of halting Verstappen before he secures a fourth consecutive world title.
“If I’d made a better decision in Canada and had a better start in Barcelona, that could have been two more wins, and I know that’s a lot of ‘ifs’. But we have what it takes,” Norris continued. “It’s just about putting it all together.”
He recognizes that Red Bull remains a strong contender, while Verstappen “makes no mistakes at all.”
Verstappen himself has expressed concerns, noting on Thursday, “McLaren, at the moment, they’re just very solid. They’re good everywhere, every single track. I would say Barcelona was just a normal weekend for us – we were just too slow.
“So I just hope for a clean weekend again, but hopefully a bit more pace as well.”
However, departing Barcelona, Mercedes’ George Russell was suspicious that Verstappen might have had an additional “six tenths” up his sleeve ahead of Norris.
And he stated in Austria on Thursday, “They’ve won seven of the last ten races. It doesn’t seem to be too difficult for them.”
