Mercedes driver George Russell commended McLaren for its impressive performance on the podium at Silverstone and expressed confidence in the team’s ability to sustain this level of success throughout the Formula One season.
McLaren’s recent upgrade has resulted in a significant leap forward, with Lando Norris securing fourth place in Austria and an outstanding second-place finish at his home British Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, teammate Oscar Piastri, who only experienced the upgrade at Silverstone, narrowly missed a podium finish due to a late safety car intervention.
The upgraded design implemented by McLaren bears striking similarities to Red Bull’s class-leading concept, which has propelled the reigning champions to victory in all ten races thus far.
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Reflecting on McLaren’s progress, Russell noted that the team has joined Mercedes in the pursuit of challenging Red Bull’s dominance.
Russell stated, “I see no reason why they shouldn’t be up there now.
“We’ve come from Red Bull Ring, which is a very different circuit to Silverstone. And they were a small step ahead of us on both occasions.
“So I don’t know how they’ve found this much performance. It’s been quite surprising.
“We don’t tend to focus too much on our competitors.
“We just need to keep focusing on ourselves.
“Yes, it gives us inspiration that it can be possible, but we need to try and turn it up and we need to find more performance and quick.”
Contrary to Russell’s optimism, Lando Norris remains cautious, acknowledging McLaren’s weaknesses on certain circuits, particularly those with low-speed corners like the Hungaroring.
Norris emphasised that the team should manage its expectations despite the recent strong results.
He commented, “We do have a poor car – and I say poor, I would say pretty terrible in the slow-speed corners, extremely difficult to drive.
“I feel if we’re getting excited and I accept that, but we’re going to go to a couple of tracks coming up where I’m sure people are going to be saying ‘what have you done now?
“Like, how has it got so bad all of a sudden?'”
READ: Lando Norris says he’s open to leaving McLaren after Red Bull meeting
Norris acknowledged the improvements made by McLaren, such as reducing tire degradation and fine-tuning aspects like tire cooling.
However, he attributed much of their recent success to the specific characteristics of the Silverstone track, which allowed them to effectively manage tire performance.
Despite the positive aspects of the upgrade, Norris emphasised that there is still significant work to be done before McLaren can truly compete with the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull.