Russell sees Red Bull and Ferrari also not sitting still: "Not easy"

"We are closing the gap, no doubt", Russell is quoted by Sky Sports. However, he knows that the gap towards Red Bull and Ferrari is still too big at the moment to really surprise and outsmart them purely on the basis of driver ability. "But the four cars ahead have the pace advantage. Hopefully after the summer break we will add extra things to the car but as does everyone else."

Mercedes are hoping to make another move in the summer break. Red Bull Racing announced last week that it will certainly continue to come up with updates well into the second half of the season, but that the improvements will not be as drastic as they have been in the past.

Russell knows that his team faces a big challenge. "It's not going to be straight forward. We still believe we can fight for victories at some point this season, but I don't think we'll have the car that will be outright quickest," he is honest. The current season has ten Grand Prix weekends left.

The big question is how much development budget all the teams have left. All the racetracks have to keep to a budget ceiling and the question is when the maximum expenditure is reached and how the budget is distributed over a whole year. Teams can also choose to leave the second half of the season to put all their resources into the 2023 car.