George Russell 'on a level playing field' with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

George Russell said he and Lewis Hamilton are treated the same at Mercedes and that there will be no team orders if he outqualify the seven-time world champion.

Russell is in his first season with his teammate.

Russell is confident that Hamilton will not receive preferential treatment in races.

He said that they were on a level playing field.

There are no team orders, we have equal treatment and they trust us to race fairly.

• Vettel could miss Saudi race because of Covid

Russell praised the mutual respect between himself and Hamilton as he looks to follow in the footsteps of Hamilton and win the World Championships.

Russell said that they have an open relationship.

There is a strong mutual respect between us because we are at different stages of our careers. We both know that our fight is not with each other, but with some other teams.

We both want to win but at the moment we are not in a position to do so, so we need to work together and push in the same direction to make sure our car goes faster.

Charles Leclerc won the opening race of the season, while Carlos Sainz was second.

Verstappen and Perez both retired from the race, with Hamilton finishing third and Russell second.

Russell has full faith in the team to get Mercedes back fighting at the front, even though they are behind their rivals at the moment.

If we do everything perfectly, we still don't have the pace in the car to fight with the Red Bull and Ferrari, he said.

We don't know what our timelines are. When we jump on the track, we can find out if we can resolve our issues.

I trust my team and if anyone can overcome these issues, Mercedes can.

After it was confirmed they would be team-mates, a picture of an 11-year-old Russell chasing an autograph from a then 24-year-old Hamilton was widely circulated.

Russell was asked what it takes for a young hopeful to realise his dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver.

You are fighting for a place in the top 20 in the world and even then, for a superb driver to join Formula 1 a great driver has to leave and there has to be an opening for you.