"Red Bull have the championship sewn up" - Russell

George Russell summed up the mood in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday night when he chillingly predicted Max Verstappen's Red Bull team will win all 23 races this year.

Defending world champion Verstappen picked up where he left off with a crushing display to take the chequered flag at Formula One's season opener in Sakhir, crossing the line 11 seconds clear of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull.

As Verstappen dominated, 41-year-old Fernando Alonso provided the spark to a tame race as he duelled with old foe Lewis Hamilton to claim the final spot on the podium. Hamilton finished fifth.

But Alonso, albeit in a rejuvenated Aston Martin, took the chequered flag nearly 40 seconds behind Verstappen, with Hamilton 51 adrift.

"Red Bull have got this championship sewn up and I don't think anybody will be fighting with them this year," said Russell, who finished seventh on a sobering evening for Mercedes.

"They should win every single race this season. With the performance they have got I don't see anyone challenging them. They have got it easy at the moment, and they can do what they like.

"They might not take every pole - because Ferrari are competitive over one lap - but when it comes to race pace, they are in a very strong position."

Verstappen has won 10 of the last 12 races, and 17 of the past 24 - stretching back to his contentious triumph over Hamilton in Abu Dhabi which brought the curtain down on an F1 season for the ages.

However, a period of dominance has ensued. Red Bull mastered an overhaul in regulations to allow Verstappen to take his second consecutive championship with four rounds to spare last year, and his display here did little to dampen expectations that he will secure a hat-trick of titles.

However, Mercedes have