George Russell warns Mercedes not to fall into one big trap this season, they’ll ‘feel the pain’

George Russell will make a step up in 2025 following the departure of Lewis Hamilton.

As the seven-time champion leaves for Ferrari, his fellow compatriot and Silver Arrows teammate Russell will now be team leader in Brackley.

The team are entering a new era with Russell and Kimi Antonelli on board for 2025. Mercedes barred journalists from mentioning Hamilton at their Adidas launch event as they look to move on from the 40-year-old.

Mercedes may have fixed their car problems ahead of 2025 – this will be frustrating for Hamilton having struggled with inconsistent machinery in the ground effect era. Russell outperformed the Brit last season across the board.

Mercedes comfortably finished fourth in the constructors’ championships in 2024 – 121 points behind Red Bull in third and 374 ahead of Aston Martin in fifth. The Brackley-based outfit will be looking to compete with the frontrunners throughout the season in 2025.

But speaking with talkSPORT Driving, Russell stressed Mercedes have another critical thing to think about as well as their 2025 efforts.

George Russell warns Mercedes they will ‘feel the pain’ in 2026 if they focus solely on 2025

While the 2025 season is less than a month away, attention is also on 2026 and the new regulations coming into effect.

Teams can now begin work on next year’s cars as the sport moves towards sustainability and radical chassis and aerodynamic changes.

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Many believe Mercedes will have the fastest engine in 2026 after the regulation change. Russell will be keen for the team to focus attention on next season as well as this year’s title challenge.

The 27-year-old stressed that Mercedes will ‘feel the pain’ in 2026 if they spent all their budget on 2025.

“It’s going to be really interesting because you’ve only got so much money you’re allowed to spend and you have to decide if you spend it on 2025 or on 2026.

“So if you spend it more on 2025, you could probably go out and win the championship, but then you’ll feel the pain in 2026.

“So I think for all the teams, they’re going to see how they start the season. For us, we’ll take a view on how we’re performing and then decide if we want to spend a bit more money this year or focus the efforts onto ’26.”

What George Russell has said about Mercedes’ title chances in 2025?

Mercedes will be desperate to find speed across the 2025 season after having glimpses of performance in 2024. The team ended last season strongly with a one-two finish in Las Vegas and fourth and fifth in Abu Dhabi.

Russell says Mercedes are ‘much more disciplined’ in 2025 and will prevent problems from coming up after solving another.

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Carlos Sainz sees Russell as a title contender this season along with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. The Brit won two races and four podiums in 2024.

But Mercedes’ new team leader has admitted he may need more to challenge for the title. Russell says he would love Hamilton’s ‘mega strong’ race pace to be implemented into his driving.