“Sorry mate,” Lando Norris hits back at George Russell’s mentality over McLaren’s 2025 pace
Lando Norris wasn't hesitant to call out George Russell's absurd comments about McLaren being able to focus on 2026 now.
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Lando Norris and George Russell (via F1 Oversteer)
The 2025 season is well underway as McLaren takes the top spot on the grid in terms of pace. Mercedes secured great results during the season opener and has matched Woking in the standings with over 27 points. Now, Lando Norris has taken a jibe at George Russell‘s comments about McLaren being able to focus on the 2026 season.
McLaren’s pace in the 2025 season seems so superior that George Russell believed the team could focus on 2026. However, Lando Norris wasn’t mincing his words while replying bluntly to the Briton. The 25-year-old recalled the previous seasons and how the season-opener weren’t always the true representatives of the entire year.
Norris acknowledged that he was aware of Russell’s comments on McLaren’s pace. The Briton recalled the previous year when Woking was way behind the competition at the beginning. However, McLaren still ended up having the fastest chassis and won the constructors’ championship, leaving Red Bull in the dust. This did not mean that the British constructor had everything figured out and could shift their entire focus to the regulation changes of the 2026 season.
Max was three-tenths off yesterday. 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.
Lando Norris said in a post-race conference
Norris pinpointed Russell’s exact comment which didn’t make much sense. The 25-year-old didn’t hesitate to claim that having such a mentality wasn’t right. The McLaren driver snarkily apologized to the 27-year-old and highlighted that Woking still had a lot of work pending on the challenger for the 2025 season.
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.
Lando Norris added
Lando Norris reveals factor that makes McLaren the ‘team to beat’ in 2025 season
McLaren came up with not only the fastest challenger on the grid, but possibly the best duo in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Both drivers seem to complement each other well and maximize points for the team. Despite Piastri’s woeful outing in his home race, Norris wasn’t too worried about Woking’s chances down the season.
Norris asserted that McLaren was the team to beat for the rivals due to multiple reasons. However, the main reason was that the two drivers pushed each other hard at the forefront. The 25-year-old insisted that Woking had done an amazing job on the challenger and thanked them for it. Still, the Briton reiterated that there will still places where the challenger could be improved over the season.
But we are the team to beat, mainly because we have two drivers up there pushing each other. That helps. 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.
Lando Norris noted
Oscar Piastri has already declared that he would race Norris hard for the championship victory. The Aussie couldn’t race his teammate much the previous year due to the Papaya rules. However, the 2025 season will be completely different as both drivers will fight each other for the drivers’ title. But, both drivers have mutually agreed to maximize points for the team first and put their individuals performances second.
Can McLaren build a bigger gap to the rivals down the season?
McLaren is currently tied with Mercedes at the top spot of the constructors’ championship. Even Brackley seems to have a great drivers’ lineup after Kimi Antonelli‘s amazing recovery drive in Australia. Notably, Woking, despite having the fastest chassis came extremely close to losing the top spot to Ferrari in the 2024 season.
Norris and Piastri must ensure consistency in performance and minimize errors over the race weekends. Woking just has to keep up with such performances in order to remain at the top. However, the rivals seem to have been continuously improving in pace for the final year of the ground-effect era.
Hence, time will tell how the 2025 season pans out for McLaren in their championship ambitions. As things currently are, the year will be extremely competitive and exciting, especially at the forefront.
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