“They’re holding back” - The Mercedes tactic Russell believes Red Bull are using

While Red Bull did win again in F1 2023, it wasn’t in as dominant fashion as the opening two rounds.

Even without the number of red flag stoppages, the biggest lead Max Verstappen built up over Lewis Hamilton was around nine seconds.

With Red Bull running away with it so far, there’s been some suggestions that the FIA might be forced to look at the rules to make the sport more competitive.

Former Mercedes technical chief Paddy Lowe has previously revealed they deliberately held back in 2014 to limit how they’d be slowed down by the governing body.

“For sure they’re holding back,” Russell told the BBC's Chequered Flag podcast.

“I think they are almost embarrassed to show their full potential because the faster they seem, the more that the sport is going to try and hold them back somehow.

“I think realistically they probably have seven-tenths 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 has 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.”

Russell was forced to retire from Sunday’s race due to an engine-related failure. 

The British driver had led the race before an untimely pit stop under the Safety Car which soon became a red flag put him at a disadvantage.

“Yeah, I guess when it’s not your day, it’s not your day, and pretty disappointed initially with the decision to red flag the race,” he added.

“Everything we’ve done this weekend has been good: qualifying was great, the start was great, the restart was great, the strategy decision was the right one. It’s just such a shame to be stood here right now.”