Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is “in a different galaxy” after having won the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Verstappen won the race with a 22-second lead over teammate Sergio Perez, who was followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished P5 and P7 respectively.
Russell challenged both Ferrari drivers for the podium but couldn’t keep up, and late mistakes cost him time as well, while Hamilton improved from his starting spot in P9 but missed out on the top 5.
The 7-time World Champion said on Friday he needed to improve his race pace.
Speaking after the race, team boss Wolff said that the thinks “Max [Verstappen] was not in a different league but in a different galaxy. The performance was extraordinary.
“But everybody else, we saw the differences between the Ferraris and I believe that the group of Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes were probably in a similar ballpark.
“We just need to look at ourselves, get on top of our problems and if we are able to manage our race weekend better, we will be racing those guys.”
When asked if Red Bull could win every race of the season, Wolff said that “unfortunately, yes” they can.
“You need to acknowledge [their] performance levels, they are very strong.”