British driver George Russell recently claimed that Mercedes are one step behind Red Bull and Ferrari. His statements come after Mercedes try to brave through several problems of their new “sidepod-less” wonder.

Russell has recently joined Mercedes after spending initial years with Williams F1. He was called upon to replace Valtteri Bottas, who drove for Mercedes for 5 glorifying years. However, the environment has not been new for Russell, who has been a part of the Mercedes family since his initial days in the sport. As for now, the new Silver Arrows driver will look to solidify his seat there for years to come.

Ferrari and Red Bull have the strongest cars

The pre-season testing has proven to be a solid one for several teams. While everyone adjusts to the new FIA rules, Ferrari and Red Bull seem to have adjusted exceptionally quickly to them. The Barcelona testing was a pleasant experience for both the teams as they did not face any major car issues. Furthermore, both the teams were topping charts in various aspects, despite facing “porpoising”.

Bahrain saw both the teams come through stronger than ever. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz clocked in the second-fastest time of Day 2, while World Champion Max Verstappen was the fastest on Day 3, with Leclerc on his heels. It is commendable how both the teams have put up with the pressure of living up to the new rules.

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George Russell has no positive news for the fans

Mercedes, on the other hand, introduced a drastic change to their car design by entirely changing their sidepods. Since then, both Lewis Hamilton and Russell have claimed that the design has not paid off yet. While rivals claim Mercedes is playing mind games, the silver arrows have actually shown nothing that makes them a potential leader this year.

While “Volatility” has been a genuine issue for many teams, Mercedes has also claimed of not finding any solutions yet. Backing these claims, Russell told,“It depends on how hard you push the car, our aim is to reveal our performance to the last drop and reach the limits of the car. But I can definitely say that we were affected by the fluctuation. It doesn’t feel very comfortable, but if our performance is high, I don’t care about comfort.”

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The Briton added, “But at the moment we don’t have enough performance, we seem to be one step behind our competitors. We have a lot of work to do throughout the week to fix the problems, because in all circumstances Red Bull and Ferrari seem to be one step ahead of us.”

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However, pre-season testing can never be the ultimate test for a team. They have a week before the season begins, and we can never rule out Formula One Giants like Mercedes to be out of the championship contention.