Lando Norris responds to George Russell’s “stop development” comments

Lando Norris has clapped back at George Russell’s comments that McLaren is so far ahead it can move its focus to its 2026 car.

McLaren looked as though it was on to a strong 1-2 finish in Australia before Oscar Piastri suffered a costly moment when he got temporarily stuck in the grass in the wet weather. Despite the home hero’s misfortune, he still finished in the points while Norris celebrated the first victory of the 2025 season. 

Norris was joined on the podium by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell, who finished the race in second and third, respectively. 

During the post-race press conference, Norris commented on whether his performance in Melbourne made him the favourite for the season. He explained:

 “Let’s see. Max was three-tenths off yesterday. Last year, we were much further off and ended up with the best car by the end of the season. We were over half a second off at the beginning of last year behind Red Bull and ended up with the quickest car.

“I know George made some comments earlier this weekend that we can just turn our focus to 2026. If that’s their mentality, wonderful, but that’s not the mentality to have. Sorry, mate.

“We know we still have a lot of work to do on this year’s car. If you relax in this position, you fail. In Formula 1, if you start thinking things are good and groovy, that’s when you get caught. I do think we’re favourites because the team has done an amazing job, and the car is flying. But we will have races where we struggle.

“If we started the season in Bahrain, I don’t think we would have won, and you wouldn’t be asking me this question. Let’s allow a few more races to take place before making any obvious statements.”

Norris is referring to the Mercedes driver’s comments from earlier in the weekend when he claimed that McLaren could turn its focus to the 2026 regulation changes. The British driver commented to the media:

“It’s what we expected to be honest, we’ve seen how strong they are. They’re at such an advantage because they can stop development now and go fully [focus] on ‘26 and it’s difficult to overcome that gap.”

McLaren and Mercedes sit first and second in the constructors’ standings with the same points, 27. Red Bull follows in third with 18 points as the circus heads to Shanghai.