Christian Horner has responded to George Russell saying Red Bull are "embarrassed to show their full potential" and enjoy a bigger pace gap than has so far appeared to be the case.
Reigning champions Red Bull have dominated the 2023 Formula One season after claiming both pole and the race win in each of the opening three races, including one-twos in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Red Bull have almost double the points of Aston Martin in second in the constructors' championship.
However, at the Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen dropped from first to third on lap one, allowing Russell to briefly lead before the Dutchman went on to win the race, while his team-mate Sergio Perez rose to fifth following a pit-lane start.
It prompted Mercedes driver Russell to tell the BBC's Chequered Flag podcast: "For sure, they're holding back.
"I think they almost are embarrassed to show their full potential. I think realistically they probably have seven-tenths [of a second] advantage over the rest of the field.
"I don’t know what the pace difference looks like at the moment, but Max has got no reason to be pushing it, nor [have] Red Bull.
"They've done a really great job, to be fair to them. We can't take that away, and we clearly have to up our game."
When Horner was told about the remarks, he made reference to Mercedes' past dominance of winning eight consecutive constructors' titles before Red Bull ended that run in 2022.
"Okay, that's very generous of him," Horner replied. "His team of all people would know too well about those kind of advantages."
Asked if Russell's comments were true, Horner explained both of his drivers were managing their pace in Melbourne given the intended one-stop strategy before the safety car and red flag dramas.
"There's always an element of managing what goes on in any race," he said. "Because it was a one-stop race and a very early one-stop race, of course there was an element of tyre management which was going on, which was what they were doing.
"[But] Checo wasn't hanging about; he wasn’t cruising around, holding back seven-tenths per lap because he didn't want to show it – the grid was certainly a little bit closer at this venue."
Back-to-back world champion Verstappen leads the drivers' standings by 15 points ahead of Perez, with the season's fourth round on April 30 in Azerbaijan.
Lando Norris claims McLaren on ‘an upward trend’ with strong driver pairing
Lando Norris believes McLaren’s strong driver pairing can be a big advantage as the team celebrated an “important milestone” with a double podium at the Japanese Grand Prix.
British driver Norris finished second for a second consecutive race, albeit well behind dominant race-winner Max Verstappen, while team-mate Oscar Piastri secured his first podium in his debut Formula One season.
After a tough start to the year, McLaren have impressed since their first big upgrade began at July’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Norris finished fourth at Spielberg before picking up back-to-back second-places at Silverstone and in Hungary.
Piastri, 22, has exceeded expectations this season, with a number of strong displays earning the Australian an extended contract earlier this week – none more so than at Suzuka given he had never even been to Japan before.
Norris feels their combined strength is a major plus for McLaren as they chase down Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship.
“I think our advantage at the minute comparing to almost every team, bar a couple, is we have two drivers who are up there fighting for these positions and fighting for these points,” Norris said after the race at Suzuka.
“And not every team has that at the minute. So I think that’s helping us. We can help one another, we can use one another, and I think that’s a good advantage we have over a lot of other teams at the minute.
“So we’re on an upward trend. We’re making good progress and days like today prove exactly that.
“The progress we’ve made this season has been pretty incredible from my eyes, and from where we were to finishing 19 seconds behind the lead is, I think, evidence of exactly that.
“So I’m proud of everyone and we’ll keep pushing.”
Team principal Andrea Stella described the result at Suzuka as “an important milestone in our journey at McLaren”, while Piastri celebrated a significant day.
“You never forget your first podium, regardless of whether it’s been a strong performance or not,” he said.
“So yeah, it will be a special day and I won’t forget it and also ticking the first podium off the list is always a nice achievement to have.”
There are six races remaining in the 2023 season, including three sprint weekends, with a trip to Qatar next on the agenda in two weeks’ time.
McLaren have closed to 49 points of Aston Martin in the standings and CEO Zak Brown is confident they have a well-rounded car to be strong for the rest of the campaign.
“The team is just doing such a fantastic job, executing week in, week out,” Brown told Sky Sports F1.
“We are trying to catch Red Bull. All we can do is chip a tenth at a time but Max was pretty dominant. I think we will be strong at the next race, so will keep pushing.
“I feel as confident as I can we will be pretty strong everywhere, but we know there will be some tracks that favour your car more than others and we are good in the high speed, which Qatar is, so we will be strong there and not be weak anywhere.”
Max Verstappen’s intent was obvious in padel tennis match – Christian Horner
Christian Horner knew Max Verstappen was ready to return to winning ways from his aggression in a game of padel tennis as the Dutchman moved to the brink of a third world title with victory at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen was imperious around the high-speed corner circuit at Suzuka, beating McLaren’s Lando Norris by over 19 seconds as Red Bull sealed the constructors’ championship with a record six races to spare.
The 25-year-old’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season was ended in Singapore a week ago, but he hit back in style.
Verstappen is now within touching distance of a hat-trick of world titles, extending his lead over team-mate Sergio Perez to 177 points, and could even win it in the Saturday Qatar sprint race in two weeks’ time.
“I played padel tennis with Max on Wednesday and he was properly fired up and made it clear ‘I want to win the race by 20 seconds’ and in fairness he came within 0.7 of a second of achieving that,” team principal Horner said.
“You could tell from the very first lap in practice one that he was totally focused on this event.
“It is a circuit that he loves and enjoys. It was an outstanding performance. His laps in qualifying yesterday, particularly that final lap has to be up there with one of the best laps of all-time in qualifying.
“Max is absolutely at the top of his game, he is the best driver in F1 at this point in time.
“He’s just got this inner hunger, determination and huge ability. He doesn’t get distracted by the trappings of F1. He is an out-and-out racer. If he is not racing in the real world he is racing in the virtual world.
“He’s a winner and he loves winning. You’ve seen that competitive spirit at its utmost this weekend.”
Red Bull are the first team in Formula One history to win the team championship with six races to spare as Verstappen’s victory moved the Milton Keynes-based team 318 points clear of second-placed Mercedes in the standings. It is Red Bull’s sixth constructors’ title since their debut season in F1 in 2005.
They clinched it at the track owned by their engine supplier Honda, with Horner paying tribute to the entire team.
“To achieve this sixth constructors’ championship is beyond our wildest dreams. Coming into the season I don’t think we could have ever dreamt of having a year like this,” Horner added.
“Last year was a very strong year for us but to have kept that momentum rolling through the year that we have had is testimony to all the men and women in the team that have worked tirelessly.
“To repeat a season like this, to do better than we are doing is impossible. We are riding a wave and we want to ride that wave as long as we can.
“It is very fitting that we have won the championship here on the 75th anniversary of Honda at their circuit at Suzuka.”
While Verstappen coasted to the win, it was a tough day for Perez, who broke two front wings and was handed two penalties before retiring on lap 15.
He then came back into the race briefly on lap 40 before retiring again, with the team keen for him to serve his outstanding penalty rather than suffer in Qatar.
“It was just a disastrous weekend,” Perez said.
McLaren showed further signs of their progress by comfortably beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to seal second and third – with Oscar Piastri picking up his first F1 podium.
“Another amazing day for us. A P2 and P3, so we couldn’t have asked for anymore,” Norris said.
“We are pushing, we are getting there. The progress we’ve made is pretty outstanding.”
Lewis Hamilton frustrated by Mercedes tactics in Japanese Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton criticised Mercedes’ tactics and suggested he and George Russell needed to “work as a team” after on-track battles throughout the Japanese Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion finished fifth at Suzuka, two places ahead of Russell in a race where the pair scrapped repeatedly and aired frustration over the team radio.
After an early coming together where Russell surged past Hamilton before swiftly losing the place again, the 38-year-old pushed his team-mate off track in a second scrap and they then disagreed over how to defend their places against Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Russell was struggling on his tyres having attempted a one-stop strategy, while others around him deployed a two-stop, and Hamilton urged his team to let him through.
The 25-year-old resisted on the radio before being told “this is an instruction, George” and allowing Hamilton to pass.
Hamilton was then told to stay within DRS range to help his team-mate defend against Sainz, as the Spaniard had done to thwart Russell a week ago in Singapore.
“We should have swapped around earlier and I should have got as far ahead as possible to get the gap as big as we could to the Ferrari,” Hamilton said.
“Because he (Russell) was trying to fight me he was damaging his tyres and I think it just made it all complicated.
“The fact is we are not fighting each other in the team championship. As drivers it is not important where we are.
“What is important is that one of us finishes ahead of the Ferrari and to keep the position. Today we really needed to work as a team.”
Hamilton also disagreed with the team’s DRS strategy.
“I don’t think that was a good idea at all,” he said. “When they suggested it to me I knew that they obviously thought of it from the last race but it made no sense.
“I needed to get as far clear as possible. I was on my way, around two seconds ahead and they asked me to give George DRS and I had to come off the gas down the straight.
“Then he got overtaken by Sainz. He then got past George and he was right on my tail which was not ideal.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was absent for this race due to knee surgery, with his role divided among numerous other staff while the Austrian was on the intercom.
The team’s lead to Ferrari was cut in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship – which Red Bull clinched at Suzuka with a record six races remaining.
Max Verstappen stormed to victory, with McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the podium ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Russell, who lost sixth to Sainz at the death, said he had no hard feelings over the battle with Hamilton.
“The main goal is to finish P2 in the constructors’ championship,” Russell said. “The drivers’ championship is out of the window for me totally. Lewis is in a good place to fight for a good position.
“The goal is to finish ahead of Ferrari this season and keep on working for next year. No issues on my side.
“I viewed it as good, hard racing. Of course we lost a bit of overall time fighting each other. You are a bit frustrated on the radio but that is just part of racing.
“We are not even going to discuss it, there is nothing to discuss. We have bigger fish to fry which is how do we make the car go quicker.”
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