George Russell told McLaren they have the luxury of focusing on 2026 such is their advantage over the rest of the field. McLaren began 2025 with a front-row lockout and P4 Russell believes it is a pattern that will continue.

McLaren are so fast they can already switch their attention to next year's car, Mercedes driver George Russell said on Saturday after the reigning champions locked out the front row in Australian Grand Prix qualifying.

The Mercedes driver feels McLaren cannot be caught over the 2025 Formula 1 campaign after an impressive display in qualifying for the season-opener in Melbourne

McLaren ace Lando Norris sped to victory in the Australian Grand Prix, then paid tribute to his team for making key strategy calls at the right time to secure t

Lando Norris took his first win of the season in his shiny new McLaren, followed closely by Verstappen in second and George Russell in third. Which isn’t the full picture by any stretch, of course. Because for large parts of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix – the bits that weren’t under a safety car because another rookie or Carlos Sainz or Fernando Alonso had binned it – the picture was really rather wet.