George Russell concedes McLaren “out of reach” of Mercedes after Australia qualifying
Mercedes faces an uphill task to close the gap to McLaren, which dominated qualifying in Melbourne
George Russell has admitted that McLaren is out of Mercedes’ reach at the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season in Australia.
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, while Russell qualified 0.450s off the pace in fourth in the only Mercedes that made it through to Q3.
While Russell was happy with the progress the Brackley-based squad made on soft tyres since Friday practice, he was also forced to accept a reality where McLaren is simply too far ahead of the competition.
“I was really pleased with today's running, every lap we did was competitive, always in the top four positions,” he told F1’s official website.
“I felt confident, the team did a great job. We made some big changes last night to the car.
“The gap to McLaren is large. Fair play to Oscar and Lando, they had bad laps at the beginning of Q3, so the pressure was very high for them on the last lap but they did a good job.
“I think we know at the moment they are out of reach.”
With rain having the potential to level the playing field, Russell is not giving up on Mercedes’ chances for the Melbourne opener.
However, he stressed that it would be important for Mercedes to get the strategy right in order to take full advantage of the conditions.
“We have seen it in recent races in the rain, it's anybody's game and anything can happen,” he said. “In Brazil everything was pretty smooth for us until a VSC and then a red flag, suddenly we went from leading the race to P4 and not even on the podium.
“We need to make sure we are not the ones to lose out. But I think the weather can only be a good thing for us when we are trying to get ahead of McLaren.”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff echoed Russell’s comments that McLaren is comfortably out in front, while also backing Ferrari to make a comeback after an underwhelming performance in qualifying.
“Realistically we are two tenths off the McLarens, that is what you need to admit,” Wolff told Sky.
“I think the race pace we were all the same, maybe from McLaren that was a tiny bit further up. I don't think [Ferrari] reside where they really are. They probably should have been a little bit ahead.”
