"[McLaren] may struggle when it's cold but they're clearly better than everyone else at cooling their tyres,” Russell said, pointing to Las Vegas, a street track, as one of the “outlier circuits” where the team in papaya “potentially will struggle”.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri shrugged off Russell's remarks.
“George has come up with some funny things in the past few weeks,” the Australian driver said.
“If he wants to write off his season after the first weekend, then I'll let him do that, but I think we're aware Melbourne was an exceptional weekend rather than what we're expecting to be the norm.”
Red Bull's Max Verstappen also said he believed his team had work to do if it was to break free from a chasing pack comprising the Mercedes and Ferrari cars.
“I think the clear picture you saw was McLaren was quite far ahead, because I don't think I'm an idiot in the wet,” the Dutch driver said, referring to the Melbourne race's tricky conditions.
"[Red Bull] just need to be better as a whole, compared to McLaren, they're just good everywhere.”
McLaren's gap bigger than Red Bull ever had, says Mercedes' Russell
British team is so dominant it should win every F1 race this year, he believes
Image: Reuters
McLaren's 2025 Formula One car should win every race, rival Mercedes driver George Russell said on Thursday, adding the 2024 champions are further up the road than Red Bull's title winner was in 2023, during which it won all but one race.
“Their car is capable of winning every race and should win every race,” the British driver told reporters before the Chinese Grand Prix. “The gap they have on everybody this year is bigger than Red Bull has ever had.”
Red Bull's 2023 car was arguably the most dominant in the sport's history, with the RB19 crossing the finishing line first on 21 of 22 occasions and beating Mercedes to the constructors' championship by a record-breaking 451 points.
McLaren locked out the front row in qualifying for last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris nearly four tenths of a second quicker than Red Bull's four-time world champion Max Verstappen in third.
The 25 year-old driver went on to win the race and also set the fastest lap, and the Briton is already established as the title favourite.
Norris is looking for his first hat-trick of wins in China.
"[McLaren] may struggle when it's cold but they're clearly better than everyone else at cooling their tyres,” Russell said, pointing to Las Vegas, a street track, as one of the “outlier circuits” where the team in papaya “potentially will struggle”.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri shrugged off Russell's remarks.
“George has come up with some funny things in the past few weeks,” the Australian driver said.
“If he wants to write off his season after the first weekend, then I'll let him do that, but I think we're aware Melbourne was an exceptional weekend rather than what we're expecting to be the norm.”
Red Bull's Max Verstappen also said he believed his team had work to do if it was to break free from a chasing pack comprising the Mercedes and Ferrari cars.
“I think the clear picture you saw was McLaren was quite far ahead, because I don't think I'm an idiot in the wet,” the Dutch driver said, referring to the Melbourne race's tricky conditions.
"[Red Bull] just need to be better as a whole, compared to McLaren, they're just good everywhere.”
READ MORE:
Norris chasing maiden Formula One hat-trick in China
Norris fends off Verstappen for thrilling Australian Grand Prix victory
Verstappen: Red Bull not fastest right now, but that can change
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