George Russell believes Mercedes will be in a “good place” to snatch a win from Red Bull if the championship leaders make a mistake this year. Red Bull has dominated the campaign, winning all 12 races staged so far and earlier in the year, Russell claimed the Milton Keynes-based outfit could win every grand prix this year - a feat that has never been achieved before. Runaway championship leader Max Verstappen will start the Dutch Grand Prix from pole position as he searches for a record-equalling ninth victory in a row, with Russell third on the grid behind McLaren's Lando Norris. I think on pure pace, there’s no reason why Red Bull shouldn't win every race,” Russell told RacingNews365.com before the weekend started. “I said this in Bahrain already, but in the past, it’s not always the fastest car that wins the race. “You need to get the strategy right. You need reliability in the car. The driver can't make any mistakes. There's no guarantee that they will still win every race. “I think we will be in a good place and we'll probably have a faster car here [at Zandvoort] than we had at Spa. “Some of the circuits will probably suit us more in the second half of the season than the recent races but not enough to put us into fight with Red Bull for sure. “But you know, the goal now is to prepare for next season and seal P2 in the Teams’ Championship.”
High downforce tracks suit Mercedes
Mercedes’ most recent race win came at the São Paulo Grand Prix last year, courtesy of Russell who secured his maiden F1 victory. Outlining where the Silver Arrows will be strong, Russell explained: “Normally the high downforce circuits suit us better. So here in normal conditions, I think would have been a good track. Last year, in Singapore, we were competitive. “Mexico, we were competitive again, high downforce, but at Singapore last year, we said ‘this is our best chance to win’. “When we didn't win, it was quite a disappointment. It felt like that was the last chance and then we went to Brazil with no expectation and we smashed it. “So every weekend is a possibility. But definitely, the high downforce circuits we seem to do better than the lower downforce.”
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