George Russell says he does not expect Mercedes to be competing for victory at the start of the Formula 1 season in Bahrain next week.
Russell said he believed Red Bull were the team to beat on the evidence of the first two days of pre-season testing.
He said: “We definitely believe eventually we will have a car capable of getting in that fight.
“Whether we’re going to have that next weekend in Bahrain, I think may be a bit of a stretch.”
Russell said he had been impressed watching the Red Bull out on track at the Sakhir circuit on Thursday, when reigning champion Max Verstappen was fastest overall, and Friday.
“They look very strong, very stable,” Russell said. “The car is looking really strong and obviously Max is performing really well.
“So I think realistically, it will be a stretch for next week. But there’s no reason why eventually we can’t get there at some point this year, and we’ve always seen the strength of Mercedes and their development rates. So yeah, definitely. My belief is that.”
Mercedes head into 2023 off the back of a difficult year that ended their run of eight consecutive constructors’ titles since 2014.
They won only one race – with Russell at the penultimate grand prix of the season in Brazil – and finished third behind Red Bull and Ferrari.
But Russell said the team were in a better place than they were at the same point last year, when they discovered in pre-season testing that their car was badly afflicted with aerodynamic bouncing – or porpoising – that compromised their season.
“The entry phase (to the corner) has been improved,” Russell said.
“It’s no secret when you’re watching the onboards and videos that we are struggling a little bit with the balance, struggling a lot in the mid corner.
“But I think it’s a balance that is probably easier to solve than we had last year. So even though it’s still a limitation, I think it’s a good problem to have.”
Team principal Toto Wolff said that the “porpoising has gone, essentially”, adding: “The car is out of balance this morning and we just didn’t find the set-up for these hot conditions.”
Wolff said that rivals Red Bull and Ferrari were “fast – no surprise there” but he said there was “a feeling of excitement because we got it wrong last year”.
