Russell: Red Bull will win every single race in 2023 F1 season

Max Verstappen led a dominant Red Bull 1-2 in both qualifying and the race, with nearest rival Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin finishing over 38 seconds behind in third place after Charles Leclerc retired mid-race with an engine issue.

With Mercedes struggling for performance, Russell has put Red Bull in a league above the rest of the F1 field and expects them to be able to win all 23 races this year.

"Red Bull has got this championship sewn up, I don't think anyone is going to be fighting with them this year. I expect they should win every single race this season. That is my bet," Russell said after finishing seventh in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"With the performance they've got I don't see anyone challenging them.

"Their pace seems weaker this weekend than it was in testing, which was a bit strange. But, you know, they've got it easy at the moment, and they can do what they like.

"They might not get on pole all of the time, because we know that Ferrari are very competitive in qualifying. But when it comes to race pace, I think they're in a very, very strong position."

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Russell's Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who finished fifth in Bahrain, echoed his thoughts about the German squad's lack of performance, pointing to a downforce deficit which has caused the team to reconsider its entire car concept at the first race.

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"We were miles away [from the podium]," Hamilton said.

"There was a Ferrari that would've been ahead of him so we would've really been sixth. So a podium was nowhere near.

"We have got a lot of work to do and we have got to add downforce to the car.

"We are lacking a lot of downforce so that is really where the time will come.

"As soon as we put more load in the rear and the front, we'll pick up that pace."

Additional reporting by Adam Cooper and Oleg Karpov