After his victory at the Grand Prix of Canada, George Russell made a surprising assessment of the current World Cup situation. Despite his success and the loss of points of the McLaren pilots, he remains realistic – and finds clear words about the title fight 2024.
“To be honest, I don’t even know how Max and I are so close to them,” said Russell in the press conference. The Brit has 62 points behind Oscar Piatri, Verstappen 43.
“McLaren has the dominant car – that is obvious. The only reason why we are still within reach is that we deliver constant and keep it left.”
Russell does not take a leaf off his mouth: Actually, the World Cup train should have already been left for him and Verstappen – if McLaren did not ensure that the driver himself remains reasonably open due to strategic mistakes, incidents and inconsistent services by the driver.
Formula 1 title fight? Only under certain circumstances
Even if the Canada victory and the point-out weekend for Lando Norris have brought him a little closer to the top, Russell does not believe in a real title duel at eye level.
“I do not see ourselves from my own pace in the title fight – how Lando managed to get in front with pure speed last year. If there are as many mistakes as today, something may be possible. But not through our car alone.”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also remains cautious about the upward trend of his team. “We are never confident,” said Wolff. “It was a very good weekend, but the performance fluctuations are still there.”
The focus is now on the next race in Spielberg: “Austria will be a completely different challenge. New course, other curve characteristics – we cannot rest on the Canada victory.”
Wolff about McLaren -Duell: “I know the film – I was part of it myself”
In addition to the Mercedes performance, Wolff also commented on a potentially escalating team internal title fight at McLaren, which is reminiscent of the explosive rivalry between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton 2016. “I know the film – and I was part of the cast,” jokes Wolff.
“When two drivers fight for the World Cup in the same team, it is a huge challenge. It is about defining clear rules how to deal with each other. It is not easy, but necessary. At that time we only mastered this with Mercedes through learning by doing.”