Following the recent Asian triple-header, Mercedes driver George Russell has declared Red Bull as the new benchmark in Formula 1. Russell noted that Red Bull's performance has been impressive across three different circuits over the last three weeks, coinciding with the major upgrade package introduced for the RB22 in Baku, which led to victories for Max Verstappen in Malaysia and Singapore.
Mercedes has faced a more complex situation with the W17 upgrades introduced in Malaysia. In Singapore, the team ran a comparison test with Russell using the old specification and Antonelli using the new one. While the data confirms the upgrade has potential, the operating window is extremely narrow and sensitive to driving style, braking, and cornering.
Kimi Antonelli provided a crucial perspective on Russell's assessment, suggesting that Red Bull's current advantage is partly due to Mercedes not yet extracting the maximum from its own package. "It’s probably mostly us not extracting the maximum out of the new package," Antonelli stated. "Of course, Red Bull has done an incredible step forward, and Max has probably been more comfortable with the car." Antonelli is looking forward to the United States Grand Prix in Austin, where the team will utilize three practice sessions to better understand the setup and finally demonstrate the gains seen in simulations.
