George Russell claimed after the Singapore Grand Prix that Red Bull is now the team to beat, but Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur is “not sure.”
The Milton Keynes-based squad has enjoyed a purple patch of late, with Max Verstappen taking his second win in as many races at the Marina Bay Circuit.
Verstappen produced a faultless display to capture his first-ever victory in Singapore, backing up his triumph at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia one week before.
The double heralds an impressive turnaround for the Red Bull team and its in-house powertrains department, leading Russell to proclaim it is “the team to beat” after having caught up his team Mercedes, as well as Ferrari.
The Scuderia have been the second-best team behind the Silver Arrows for the majority of the season, but have recently fallen back.
Singapore signalled an improvement, with Charles Leclerc second, with Lewis Hamilton only missing out on being in contention due to his own strategy error.
Asked after the race if he feels Red Bull is now setting the benchmark, Vasseur replied: “Not sure.
“Honestly, they are doing very well, but it’s not the [only] team to beat. If you look at the McLaren and Mercedes, if you have a look from the beginning of the season, Mercedes was flying.
“Then we won two races, then McLaren won two races, then Red Bull won two or three.
“I think it’s changing, because quite often you have four teams, I think yesterday you had four teams in less than two races.”
Vasseur concluded by suggesting that if a team arrives with upgrades to its package, the complexity can change, and affirmed the Maranello-based outfit is focusing on its own matters.
“It means that if someone is bringing upgrades next week, the classification can change,” he said. “But the most important thing is to be focused on ourselves, not to think about the others.”
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