George Russell has outlined his desire to go head-to-head with Max Verstappen for the F1 title this year.
Mercedes impressed with its car at the pre-season shakedown event from Barcelona last week, tallying the most laps of any team and running into no major issues.
The Brackley-based squad has long been predicted by many to emerge as front-runners this year as the sport sees the introduction of fresh regulations.
Although no conclusions can be made over the pecking order, Red Bull also impressed at the Barcelona test with its brand new power unit.
Russell has been labelled as the early title favourite for the year ahead, but does not believe the tag adds any extra pressure on his shoulders.
“I’d love for it to turn out that way and I do want to go head-to-head with Max,” Russell told media including RacingNews365.
“Lando [Norris] had a great season last year, but no, it didn't add any more pressure.
“Probably the fans and people were expecting potentially Mercedes vs McLaren, because there was a lot of anticipation that Mercedes would clearly have the best power unit.
“But it seems like the other power unit manufacturers have done a good job and we know that Red Bull has always had an amazing car.
“Even through the years of dominance of Mercedes, it was their engine that was letting them down, not their car.
“We know how good Max is. He’s very much going to be in the fight this year, that is great.”
The last time there was a significant regulation change in 2014, Mercedes emerged as the runaway leader and dominated F1 for several years.
Russell asserted he does not want an “easy” route to the title and is relishing the prospect of a championship battle.
“You obviously wish that you'd have a slightly easier time of it, but it should never be easy.
“If you're going to win, you want to have fought for it and won it fair and square on track.”
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