Russell waits for the Spanish GP to see McLaren's true level

If the start of the 2025 season had a color, it would undoubtedly be orange. Papaya orange. Over the first five Grands Prix of the championship, McLaren dominated the competition with four victories and its two drivers leading the championship. Only Max Verstappen, through two pole positions and a success at Suzuka, was able to resist the "Made in Woking" steamroller, the MCL39. Performing well on a flying lap, on race pace, on tire wear, the car British crushes (almost) everything in its path and seems (almost) unbeatable in the hands ofOscar piastri et Lando Norris.

However, will this ultra-dominance end in the coming weeks? That's what George Russell hopes, anyway. The Briton, 4th in the Drivers' Championship, remains optimistic and still thinks he can beat the McLarens by the end of the season. His hope: the increased controls and restrictions put in place on the rear wings from the Spanish Grand Prix (May 30 – June 1), ninth round of the 2025 season.

“Barcelona will be a really interesting race for everyone because that’s where we’ll have the restrictions on the flex wings, and that’s obviously where McLaren has excelled, underlines the pilot Mercedes. Until this race, I don't really see the hierarchy changing, but it will be kind of the decisive weekend to see whether or not they take a step back and the field tightens up."

Russell impressed by McLaren's tire management

"Nevertheless, it is clear that they are doing something quite spectacular with the tires, George Russell puts it into perspective, believing that with or without the flexible wing, the MCL39 will remain a formidable car.. [In Bahrain] in FP3 they were a second faster than everyone else, that's unheard of, and I expect that on circuits like high-degradation circuits like Bahrain, Barcelona, ​​Budapest, Singapore or Zandvoort, they will be the best. Maybe when we go to Las Vegas that won't be the case for them and we can get a win. But right now their car is really strong."

Since the beginning of the season, George Russell has been constantly repeating that McLaren has already won the championship, such is the British team's lead. The Briton even claimed that The Woking team could already put all its resources into 2026 and still win both titles. Nevertheless, the three-time Grand Prix winner believes Mercedes has the potential to catch up with – or even overtake – McLaren by the end of the season. "In terms of our position relative to McLaren, we are much closer than McLaren was to Red Bull [at the beginning of 2024]. But I think Red Bull probably had some assets… There was as much regression from Red Bull as there was progression from McLaren throughout the season." 

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