The gloves are off and the knives are out as the circus begins its tour around the globe. The competitive nature of the sport did not take long to kick in, as we are already witnessing some mind games being played ahead of the season opener race in Bahrain. Many might’ve missed it because of its subtle nature but George Russell knew what he was saying when he dismissed Sergio Perez, not once but twice.

The Mercedes man did so during his post-qualifying press conference, after securing his second-row start for the Bahrain GP race by going third fastest. Russell was in a Ferrari sandwich after the qualifying, however, he chose to attack the Red Bull driver behind in P5 by completely discrediting him compared to his teammate Max Verstappen. He did so twice during the press conference and let us highlight both instances.

George Russell dismisses Sergio Perez during post-qualifying press conference–1st instance

We are all aware of what an incredible talent George Russell is. The 26-year-old is pipped to be a future world champion and has showcased signs of it on multiple occasions, especially since he switched to Mercedes. However, even in 2024, Verstappen starts the season as the favorite to win the championship. Many will try to dethrone him, including his teammate Sergio Perez, who has made it evident on multiple occasions since last season. But after miserably failing to achieve his goal, the Mexican has lost his street credit and Russell made it evident during the presser, as per the FIA transcript.

While discussing the race, Russell predicted it would be a close fight with Perez resonating the thoughts of Carlos Sainz. However, he highlighted that Verstappen is miles clear considering the level of the Dutchman’s performance. The Brit said, “I think the race is going to be really close with Charles (Leclerc), the Ferraris, with Checo tomorrow, and we can see what we can do about Max, but right now he’s doing an incredible job.”

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With this statement, Russell subtly hinted at the clear and obvious difference between Perez and Verstappen. However, if you believe we’re reading into it, the next statement would make it crystal.

2nd instance

Later in the press conference, a question about the translation of expectations from testing to the reality of qualifying was thrown at the top three from the session. Charles Leclerc and George Russell were of similar opinions on how their respective cars were performing better than they expected and predicted based on the pre-season testing timings.

However, the way Russell expressed his opinion and bifurcated the Red Bull men, exhibits how highly he ranks Verstappen or lowly he ranks Perez. Despite driving the same Red Bull, Russell expected Perez to be in firing range while making Verstappen the standard, the one to chase.

Russell said, “Yeah, I agree with Charles. I think it was better than expected. I think we all knew it was going to be very, very close between ourselves, Ferrari, Aston, McLaren, and Checo. And I think, you know, the gap in qualifying today was probably slightly closer to Max than we all expected. I think race pace is the important one. We’re expecting probably a half-second deficit. That’s what we thought after testing. We’ll see tomorrow, I think.”

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If there were any doubts, the “and Checo” should clear them right up how Russell has already started playing mind games by positioning him in a different league. The pre-race banter sets up a tantalizing race with a fight brewing for podium places in the upcoming season opener in Bahrain.