By Joe Cash
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Mclaren’s 2025 Formula One car should win every race, rival Mercedes driver George Russell said on Thursday, adding that the 2024 champions are further up the road than Red Bull’s title winner was in 2023, during which it won all but one race.
“Their car is definitely capable of winning every race, and their car should win every race,” the British driver told reporters ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. “The gap they have on everybody this year is bigger than Red Bull has ever had.”
Red Bull’s 2023 car was arguably the most dominant in the sport’s history, with the RB19 crossing the finishing line first on 21 out of 22 occasions and beating Mercedes to the constructors’ championship by a record-breaking 451 points.
Mclaren locked out the front row in qualifying for last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris nearly four tenths of a second quicker than Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen in third.
The 25 year-old driver went on to win the race and also set the fastest lap, and the Briton is already established as the title favourite.
Norris is looking for his first hat-trick of wins in China.
“(Mclaren) may struggle when it’s cold, but they’re clearly better than everyone else at cooling their tyres,” Russell said, pointing to Las Vegas, a street track, as one of the “outlier circuits” where the team in papaya “potentially will struggle.”
Mclaren’s Oscar Piastri shrugged off Russell’s remarks.
“George has come up with some funny things in the last couple of weeks,” the Australian driver said.
“If he wants to write off his season after the first weekend, then I’ll let him do that, but I think we’re very aware that Melbourne was an exceptional weekend rather than what we’re expecting to be the norm.”
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also said he felt his team had work to do if it was to break free from a chasing pack comprising of the Mercedes and Ferrari cars.
“I think the clear picture that you saw was Mclaren was quite far ahead, because I don’t think I’m an idiot in the wet,” the Dutch driver said, referring to the Melbourne race’s tricky conditions.
“I think, in general, (Red Bull) just need to be better as a whole, compared to Mclaren, they’re just good everywhere.”
(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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