McLaren gap bigger than Red Bull ever had - Russell

Lando Norris of McLaren and George Russell of Mercedes talking after race at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix — George Russell took third in Melbourne behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen [Getty Images]

McLaren's advantage over the field is "bigger than Red Bull has ever had" and their car is "capable of winning every race", says Mercedes driver George Russell.

Norris held off Red Bull's Max Verstappen to win the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last weekend after he and team-mate Oscar Piastri took a one-two in qualifying, more than 0.3 seconds clear of the field.

Red Bull's Verstappen has won the past four drivers' championships and particularly dominated the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 2023, Red Bull won 21 of the 22 races.

Russell said of McLaren before this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix: "Their car should win every race but I don't think they will win every race this year. Let's see.

"The gap they have this year on everybody is bigger than Red Bull has ever had. But when Max was in that [2023] car he was pretty reliable every single lap he did, every single run in Q3, throughout qualifying, never really a question."

Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri said Russell's views were "pretty far-fetched".

The Australian added: "Our car was very strong in Melbourne, but we're very aware it was an exceptional weekend rather than what we expect as the norm. We have a strong car, but it's still within reach for the others."

Briton Russell, who finished third in Melbourne on Sunday, said that McLaren's main advantage was founded on the car's ability to look after its tyres.

"If you're talking about trying to find that amount of lap time in downforce that isn't going to happen in a season and it's never happened in a season," Russell said.

"They're clearly doing something better than the rest, clearly substantially quicker than everybody when the tyres are getting hot."

Verstappen agreed, saying: "McLaren are quite far ahead, I don't think I'm an idiot in the wet but I didn't have a chance to fight in the first half of the race."

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