Lando Norris has acknowledged that George Russell and Mercedes currently hold a much larger advantage than what Norris faced during his championship-winning season.
Russell continued his impressive form from Australia by clinching a commanding pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. The British driver was 0.289 seconds ahead of teammate Kimi Räikkönen in a dominant qualifying session, with Mercedes locking out the front row in Shanghai.
Behind the Silver Arrows, Norris qualified third, 0.621 seconds off Russell’s pace. Last year at this event, Russell confidently claimed Norris’s McLaren was fast enough to win every race. However, McLaren went on to win 14 of 24 races, with Norris ultimately fending off Max Verstappen to secure his first world title.
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“I know everyone talks about how big our advantage was last year, but we certainly didn’t get close to winning every race,” Norris reflected. “In Melbourne, I was only eight tenths ahead of Verstappen in race one, but last Sunday, Russell lapped the field up to sixth place.”
Norris admitted Mercedes are currently much closer to dominating than McLaren was at the same stage last year. “They have a big advantage over everyone because they’ve worked hard and deserve to be where they are. You would expect Mercedes to dominate for a while. We will do our best to change that.”
Looking ahead, Norris revealed Russell’s eagerness to dethrone him, given Mercedes’ clear superiority under the new regulations. Despite Mercedes appearing unstoppable, Russell shows no signs of pressure as the title favorite.
When asked if he’s disappointed by the new rules limiting his chances to defend the crown, Norris accepted the challenge: “No, that’s how life goes. Sometimes it favors you, sometimes it doesn’t. I would be happier fighting at the front and confident about winning, but we haven’t built a car fast enough yet. We need to work hard to catch up.”
He emphasized optimism for the long season ahead: “I’ve never ruled myself out. I hope we can catch up. It’s still early days.”
Last year, Lewis Hamilton won the sprint race in China for Ferrari—a rare bright spot in his first disappointing year with the team. This Saturday, he starts fourth, sandwiched between Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri, who qualified fifth. Charles Leclerc will start sixth, a full second off the pace.
Max Verstappen’s frustration with the new regulations was evident after qualifying eighth, a staggering 1.7 seconds behind Russell. “This is undriveable,” Verstappen said as he pulled into the pits. “We’ve never had anything this bad.”