Mercedes‘ George Russell warns that Formula 1 teams challenging for the title through to the end of the season “could pay the price in 2026,” citing McLaren as 2025 favourites.
2024 proved to be one of F1’s most competitive seasons, with four different teams fielding race-winning drivers – Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes.
For the first time in the sport’s history, seven drivers won multiple races and there’s expectation that 2025, the final year of the current rule cycle, could be even closer.
But Russell, who expects reigning Constructors’ champions McLaren to be a front-runner after a consistent campaign last year, fears any team fighting to the bitter end of 2025 could suffer the consequences given the new engine and aerodynamic regulations coming next season.
“I think when you look at how dominant McLaren was in the second half of last year, without a doubt their favourites going into this year,” Russell told select media including Motorsport Week ahead of the F1 75 launch event.
“And when people had their strong weekends, McLaren were still there or thereabouts.
“I think they only had one off-weekend in probably the whole of 2024.
“But I think why it’s going to be so interesting is whoever continues to develop will probably win the championship but you’ll pay the price in 2026.
“So teams who come out of the blocks and it’s a close battle, they might continue to develop.”
How teams can balance 2025 F1 title push with 2026 development
Russell cited the final year of the last regulation cycle, 2021 when Mercedes and Red Bull were locked in a championship battle with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The Briton reasoned that the example exhibited by Mercedes, whereby set-up tweaks helped its title push in the latter half of the 2021 season, could be a way for teams this year to maintain a title push without compromising development for 2026.
“But we also saw it in 2021 I think with Lewis and Max, Mercedes stopped developing and somehow they just fine-tuned the car and the set-up and found massive performance in the second half of the year just by unlocking the set-up a little bit more,” he said.
As teams chase fine margins in development and the regulations are pushed to their absolute limit in the final year of the rule cycle, Russell is sure there’ll be a close fight for supremacy in 2025 with McLaren as a potential favourite.
“I think naturally always in that final year of the regs it becomes close,” he said.
“But I still expect McLaren to be right at the forefront.”
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