Lando Norris takes aim at George Russell’s “mentality” amid McLaren pace debate

Lando Norris has dismissed George Russell’s suggestion that McLaren can already focus on next year following their dominant start to the 2025 F1 season, questioning the Mercedes driver’s “mentality”.

After McLaren locked out the front row at Albert Park by over three-tenths, Russell suggested that McLaren could turn their attention to next year’s challenger - when the new technical regulations are introduced.

“They're in such an advantage, because they can stop development now and go fully on '26 and it's difficult to overcome that gap,” Russell said after qualifying.

“Red Bull started the season so far ahead of everyone, but I don't think people overtook them in terms of development. I think they brought some things to the car and went backwards.

“If you've got a six-tenth advantage at the start of the year, nobody finds six tenths throughout the year. So, McLaren is in prime position for now and the future.”

Norris would go on to narrowly win Sunday’s race in Melbourne ahead of Max Verstappen.

By Lap 34, the two McLarens were running over 15 seconds ahead of Verstappen, highlighting their dominance at this stage of the season.

It seems that the MCL39 is incredibly kind on its tyres, with Verstappen struggling with tyre degradation at the time.

Norris: “That’s not the mentality to have”

Norris was asked about Russell’s comments in the post-race FIA press conference.

The current F1 championship leader dismissed Russell’s idea that they can focus on next year, citing the example of 2024 where Red Bull were quickly reigned in after a dominant start to the season.

“Max was three-tenths off yesterday,” Norris said. “Last year, we were much further off and ended up with the best car by the end of the season. We were over half a second off at the beginning of last year behind Red Bull and ended up with the quickest car.

“I know George made some comments earlier this weekend that they can just turn our focus to 2026. If that’s their mentality, wonderful, but that’s not the mentality to have. Sorry, mate. We know we still have a lot of work to do on this year’s car.

“If you relax in this position, you fail. In Formula 1, if you start thinking things are good and groovy, that’s when you get caught. I do think we're favourites because the team has done an amazing job, and the car is flying. But we will have races where we struggle.”

McLaren went into the first race as the clear favourites after Norris impressed on the second day of running in Bahrain.

Norris was just under 0.6s faster than Mercedes and Ferrari in the race simulations.

But despite this fact, Norris doubts McLaren would have won had the season started in Bahrain.

“If we started the season in Bahrain, I don’t think we would have won, and you wouldn't be asking me this question. Let’s allow a few more races to take place before making any obvious statements,” he added. “But we are the team to beat, mainly because we have two drivers up there pushing each other. That helps.

“Do I think me and Oscar pushing each other in qualifying yesterday allowed us to get one and a half, one tenth more than the two drivers here because their team-mates aren’t as equipped or experienced. Yes, so add that into the equation as well.

“It’s not just about the car. The team has done an amazing job, and I thank them for everything they’re doing. But we know we can make it better, and that’s our aim.”