George Russell has claimed that Red Bull should go on to win every race in the 2023 Formula 1 season after a dominant start at the Bahrain GP.
The reigning constructor champions secured a front-row lockout in qualifying and despite Charles Leclerc splitting them for the first half of the race, they soon took off into the distance. Max Verstappen won the race by more than 10 seconds while Fernando Alonso, who finished third, was more than 20 behind Sergio Perez.
Russell doesn’t see any team having much of a chance to close them down and challenge this season even though there are still 22 races to run.
“I don’t think anybody is going to get close to them [Red Bull] this year,” Russell told reporters after the 2023 Bahrain GP. “They should win basically every single race this season, that’s my bet.
“Their pace seemed weaker this weekend than it did in testing which is a bit strange but they’ve got it easy at the moment and they can do what they like.
“They might not get pole all the time because we know Ferrari are competitive but when it comes to race pace, they are a very strong team.”
Mercedes struggles
Russell’s race was a far more frustrating one as he felt held up behind Lewis Hamilton during the first stint, only to be passed by Alonso as the seven-time world champion pitted for new tyres.
He then lost touch with the aforementioned duo and was even beaten by an injured Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin to eventually come home in seventh.
Spirits were not all that high for the Silver Arrows to begin with ahead of the opening race of the season with testing not going how they had hoped and this result has not seen morale raised after being the fourth fastest car on paper.
