Red Bull ‘are in a league of their own’ ahead of Bahrain GP – George Russell

George Russell fears Max Verstappen’s Red Bull will be in a “league of their own” at Formula One’s opening race of the season in Bahrain.

Verstappen will start the new campaign on Sunday as the overwhelming favourite to take his third consecutive world crown after he and Red Bull impressed in testing.

Mercedes finished third in the constructors’ standings last year, but despite solving their porpoising woes, there are low expectations they will be in a position to battle at the front this weekend, and possibly this season.

Indeed, Russell, who is gearing up for his second year with Mercedes, believes his team might even have slipped behind a rejuvenated Aston Martin in the pecking order.

However, the Englishman, 25, has not given up hope that the Silver Arrows will be able to haul themselves back into contention as the year progresses.

“It’s going to be a challenging weekend if we want to try and fight for that victory,” said Russell.

“It’s definitely fair to say Red Bull are in a league of their own this weekend. It will be a nice fight for second place, probably between Ferrari and Aston Martin.

“But we need to trust in our process. Mercedes built a world championship-winning car for eight seasons in a row.

“We’ve fundamentally got all of the same guys, and they haven’t forgotten how to build a fast race car.

“I absolutely believe we are going to close that gap, and there’s no reason why we can’t fight as the season hots up.”

Russell took Mercedes’ sole victory last season following an impressive opening campaign alongside Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

He won the Sprint on Saturday, and on Sunday he went the distance! Your newest Grand Prix winner, Mr @GeorgeRussell63!#BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/97SGdUOXig

— Formula 1