George Russell has highlighted Red Bull has a “pretty scary” advantage over the field ahead of the new season.
Red Bull's package has caught the eye of competitors during the pre-season test from Bahrain this week, with various drivers and senior team personnel commenting that its power unit appears to be the most efficient.
The Milton Keynes-based squad has built its own power unit from scratch this year, working in collaboration with Ford.
In the build-up to the new campaign, controversy has surrounded Mercedes and its compression ratio trick, which other manufacturers are seeking clarity over.
But Russell has insisted that the focus should instead be placed on Red Bull's alleged superiority.
“I'm not really involved, I don't really know much about this [compression ratio],” Russell told media including RacingNews365.
“That was, from what I understand, leaked from other team members who have moved around.
“I don't think anybody should really be looking at us. You should be looking at the most competitive car on the grid, which right now is the Red Bull.
“They're not just a small step ahead. You're talking in the order of half a second to a second in deployment over the course of a lap.
“It's pretty scary to see that difference. Red Bull has always delivered a very good car over the past 15 years, even when they didn't have a great engine.
“This test has been really eye-opening for a lot of us.”
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Russell uses Racing Bulls data as verification
Red Bull's engine is also being supplied to its sister team Racing Bulls.
But the power unit is not the only element of the car that has changed this year, as the aerodynamic rules have been altered.
While Russell acknowledged that teams can use the setup to adjust straight-line speed, he pointed out that Racing Bulls' strong GPS data is an indication that the Red Bull unit holds a strong advantage.
“If a car is much faster than someone else's in the straight, it can be power from the ICE, it can be energy deployment, it can be [less] drag,” he said.
“But when you look at the Racing Bulls car with the same power unit, they're also delivering really strong performances in a straight.
“It clearly suggests that it's not on the chassis side, it's somewhere between the hardware and the deployment.
“As I said, it's pretty impressive what they've done, considering they're a brand new outfit.”
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