Red Bull has 'taken step back' to Mercedes - Russell

George Russell believes Mercedes has shown promising signs of catching Red Bull, claiming their rivals have "taken a step back" since the start of the season.

Mercedes earned a double podium at the Spanish Grand Prix following the introduction of their first major upgrades at Monaco. They maintained this momentum with a strong showing at Montreal, with Lewis Hamilton chasing down Fernando Alonso for second place.

The gap to Max Verstappen was below 15 seconds for the first time under normal chequered flag conditions in Canada, having been over 20 seconds at most races this season.

Mercedes had been pessimistic about their chances of improved pace in Canada, but when asked if the team had been satisfied with their showing in Montreal, Russell responded to media, including RacingNews365.com: "Definitely.

"I think going from Barcelona, which is probably a circuit that suits us down to a tee, then to Canada, which is totally the opposite circuit, we still have pretty good pace fighting with the Aston Martins.

"And Max didn't seem too far ahead either."

Russell: Red Bull cruising at the moment

While Mercedes have made steady progress towards improving their fortunes this year, Russell has cautioned there is still a long way to go before they can challenge for wins on merit.

"It feels like to a degree they're coming a little bit closer to us. When you look at the average compared to the whole field, for whatever reason it seems like Red Bull may have taken a small step back," he explained.

"When they're three steps ahead, they're now two steps ahead. So they've still got a lot of margin."

"I was told recently that they've [Red Bull] won the last 17 out of 18 races, so they're cruising at the moment. They're doing a really good job, but hopefully it's not too long until we can turn the tide."