Russell quashes popular Red Bull opinion

George Russell has hit back at claims Red Bull is currently enduring a 'difficult' period as rival teams offer it a tighter challenge on the track.

The Milton Keynes-based squad has faced increased pressure at recent rounds, with Max Verstappen beating Lando Norris to victory by very small margins at the last two events.

Norris has taken a win this year, as have the two Ferrari drivers, however, Verstappen's seven victories see him hold a 69-point lead in the standings.

With the pack closing up and offering Red Bull an increased challenge, Russell has refuted it is enduring a strenuous period.

“They’ve won seven of the first 10 races,” Russell told media including RacingNews365. “It doesn't look too difficult.”

Mercedes has taken a step forward after a lacklustre start, with Russell claiming pole position in Canada earlier this month.

“I think the team have done a great job, bringing these developments through earlier than expected in dribs and drabs, rather than one big upgrade at one sudden race,” Russell said.

“The car has made a big step forward, but we still need a little extra to get into that fight week in, week out.

“At the end of the day, we’ve had two races so far with the whole package, one of which we probably could have won and we had the fastest car.

“The other one, we were the third quickest and Lewis was on the podium. So I think that's also the natural fluctuations of car performance.”

Russell eyeing F1 sprint opportunities

The upcoming weekend in Austria will see the third sprint format event of the season.

With Russell confident over Mercedes' newfound form, the Briton is eyeing a strong haul of points from the weekend at the Red Bull Ring.

“I think the sprint race has come at a good time for us,” he said. “We feel like the last three races have been really positive for us. 

“Coming here obviously it's a very different circuit again. I think Ferrari will probably be pretty competitive.

“They've been very good here the last couple of years. We’re really excited to be back in this mix. 

“McLaren and Red Bull are still a bit ahead of us but it swings quickly, as we saw in Montreal, that we were probably the most competitive so let's see what this weekend brings.”