"Red Bull would still be quicker on the straights" - George Russell reveals worrying deficit about Mercedes’ pace

George Russell has claimed that Red Bull Racing would continue to be faster on the straights at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix even if Mercedes ran with no wing.

Red Bull had a successful outing in Baku over the weekend, where Sergio Perez won the sprint race as well as the main race on Sunday, April 30. Reigning two-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen finished P2, making it a very productive outing for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Russell, on the other hand, had to settle for a P8 finish, though a late tyre change saw him register the fastest lap and score an extra point. Speaking to Autosport, the Mercedes driver was in awe of Red Bull's speed, saying:

“We know what the speed difference is. I think we believe we could take the rear wing fully off, and Red Bull would still be quicker than us on the straights, and that's not even a joke.

“So we don't understand what they're doing. They've clearly done something incredible... Something very, very trick.”

He added:

“Kudos to them for whatever they've done to achieve this straightline performance. But especially with the DRS, as I said, we believe we can take the rear wing fully off and they'd still be quicker than us. So something's not adding up from our side.”

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“Safety cars, red flags create entertainment” - Mercedes boss on F1 Sprint race in Azerbaijan

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes the sprint race adds a lot of entertainment to a street circuit like Baku.

Speaking to on-site media, including Sportskeeda, Wolff stated that the format could be calibrated further and needs to be reviewed after the Azerbaijan GP. He said:

“I think it makes [things] more entertaining. We’ve seen that safety cars and even red flags create quite some entertainment. They need to be handled with care because the sport should never become a circus.

“But I think we need to calibrate ourselves well, therefore on street circuits, yes - it gives more opportunities in a sprint race than if you have it on another one.”

He added:

“It’s too short to play strategies, it’s too short that the tyres give up. I’m fine. But we need to assess the whole weekend Sunday night and the following days. Is it, was the format good, do we need to tweak it here and there to extract the best job?”

Mercedes finished P6 (Lewis Hamilton) and P8 (George Russell) in Baku, and remain third in the drivers' standings, behind Red Bull and Aston Martin.