George Russell sends CHILLING McLaren warning to Max Verstappen and rest of the grid after Japanese GP fumble  

George Russell has shared his thoughts on McLaren loosing to Max Verstappen at Japanese GP and how the Papaya team will respond.

George Russell sends CHILLING McLaren warning to Max Verstappen and rest of the grid after Japanese GP fumble  

Max Verstappen at Japanese GP podium with Lando Norris alongside Oscar Piastri and George Russell (Via @redbullracing/X and IMAGO)

Coming into the Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix the big question was will anyone put an end to McLaren’s 2025 dominant streak. Lando Norris won the season opener at Australia while Oscar Piastri won at China, positioning themselves at the top of the points table.  The were close to repeating the dominance, before Max Verstappen produced a magical run.

The Dutchman took advantage of the mistakes made by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in Q3 to secure the pole for Sunday. Max Verstappen then went onto keep his composure, execute with perfection throughout the race-on-race day, not giving any space to the McLaren duo on the track as well as on the pit-lane to secure his fourth straight win at the track.

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But according to Mercedes’ George Russell, who finished the race at P5, the Verstappen wins doesn’t show aa sign of McLaren slowing down. He admitted that he doesn’t believes the grid has seen the best of the British team as the lower temperature in the last two races might have held them back. Russell expects them to excel in the coming events at Bahrain and Saudi, where temperature is high.

I don’t think we’ve seen the best of McLaren yet. It’s been cold races. And, in Bahrain with 35 degrees and Saudi 37 degrees, we should see them excel.

Goerge Russell said after Japanese GP.

George Russell complains about overtaking issue in F1

While the racing at Suzuka was entertaining with regards to the Verstappen-McLaren battle, the lack of overtakes in the race was disheartening. The top-6 finished in the same positions they started the race, and Russell highlighted the issue in his post-race interview. He pointed out that Pirelli has bring in softer tires to races with resurfaced tracks,

George Russell
George Russell (via Motorsport Total)

The last two weekends it’s been an easy one-stop strategy, and I think when the track gets resurfaced, Pirelli need to bring softer tyres because that hard tyre could go forever.

Goerge Russell said.

He declared that despite him and his rivals pushing the car to the limits, they were able to make a pass on the track, as there was no extra advantage they could tap into. He pointed out how he had a was as fast as Charle Leclerc, who finished P4, but failed to close him down owing to the tier issue.

We were pushing so fast, so hard, but you just couldn’t overtake. I don’t think I would have had the pace of the top three, but I was matching the pace of Charles and I couldn’t get by.

George Russell added.

Overtaking on the track, alongside the speed, is what makes the racing entertaining in F1. Since there are some consistent factors that is restricting drivers from producing some moments, F1 needs to step up. The easy solution will be to make tweaks to the tiers and as Russell suggested it is time to explore these options.