Mercedes driver George Russell has made a worrying admission ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
On Saturday, the first qualifying sessions of the 2025 Formula 1 season took place around Albert Park in Melbourne as drivers looked to secure pole position for Sunday's race.
In the end, perhaps as expected, the McLarens were a class above as they secured a front-row lockout, with Lando Norris starting on pole and Oscar Piastri just behind.
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Reigning world champion Max Verstappen will start in third place, with Russell in fourth.
It was a disappointing day for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc only managed to qualify in seventh place, with Lewis Hamilton eighth.
After the session, Russell spoke at length about the two McLaren cars, which could be bad news for F1 fans who are expecting a close battle this season.
George Russell makes his feelings clear on McLaren ahead of Australian Grand Prix
As reported by Planet F1, Russell claimed that McLaren can start looking ahead to 2026 due to their dominance.
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He said: "It’s what we expected to be honest, we’ve seen how strong they are.
"They’re at such an advantage because they can stop development now and go fully [focus] on ‘26 and it’s difficult to overcome that gap."
Russell also stated that he does not expect McLaren to suffer a mid-season dip like Red Bull had in 2024.
The 27-year-old continued: "I think Red Bull, they started the season off so far ahead of everyone, but I don’t think people overtook them in terms of development. I think they brought some things to the car and went backwards or had some things they clarified and went backwards.
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"Because if you’ve got a six-tenths advantage at the start of a year, nobody finds six tenths throughout the course of a year. McLaren are in prime position for now and the future."
When asked about Mercedes' rivals, Russell expects to be fighting closely with Red Bull and Ferrari.
He added: "I think it’s kind of as we expected. McLaren out front with the comfortable gap and then I feel like this season, for me, is anyone’s game between ourselves, Red Bull and Ferrari.
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"But you’ve got surprises like [P5] Yuki Tsunoda and [Isak] Hadjar, who have been really competitive this week. Then Williams are showing great signs of quality pace."
Topics: George Russell, Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Mercedes, Formula 1, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri
Marcus Chan