McLaren’s advantage over the rest of the field won’t be negated by the clampdown on flexible wings, says Mercedes’ George Russell.

The true advantage of the McLaren MCL39 is in its ability to keep its tyre temperatures under control, and the secret of how that’s done isn’t likely to be affected by an upcoming change in wing flexibility tests.

George Russell: Upgrades won’t get us to McLaren’s level

McLaren is opening up a very healthy lead in both championships as the MCL39 has proven the most versatile car on the grid, even if Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is hanging gamely on in his quest for a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.

George Russell, just six points behind Verstappen, has finished on the podium four times in six races and is also keeping himself in contention as Mercedes occupy second in the Constructors’ Championship chase.

With the narrative of the season now developing with what looks like an intra-McLaren battle, with Verstappen and Russell clinging on to stay in contention, what could prove a change in the story is the upcoming introduction of a technical directive at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Having been under discussion since late 2024, the FIA issued a revised technical directive TD018 to the teams ahead of this season, introducing new front-wing flexibility tests which will see the levels of flexibility reduced from the Spanish Grand Prix.

The full extent of how the flexibility tests will affect the relative performance of each car is yet to be seen, but it’s understood McLaren and Mercedes may be the leading teams currently with the greatest levels of front wing flexibility – all teams have passed the current flexibility tests checked at each race.

While the clampdown on front wing flex may thus have an effect on individual teams’ performance levels, the changes won’t topple McLaren from the front, according to George Russell.

“The weekend in Barcelona will be interesting because of the regulation change, but the secret of McLaren lies in the tyres, not in anything affected by that new rule,” Russell told Spain’s DAZN after the Miami Grand Prix.

The ability of McLaren to keep its tyre temperatures – particularly across the rear axle – has been key to its race performances this year, with the car’s single-lap pace seemingly on a similar level to that of Red Bull and Mercedes.

It was in the high track temperatures, resulting in higher levels of degradation, that McLaren really came to life – coming home over 30 seconds clear of Russell – with Oscar Piastri confirming the race had played to their strengths.

“In the race, all the corners become even slower, and looking after the tyres becomes more important. That’s probably been a strength of ours so far this year,” he said.

“This has been the first very hot race we’ve had in terms of track temperature. Saudi was hot, but the track temperature today was the highest we’ve had all year. I think that helped our pace.”

But quite how McLaren is keeping its tyre temperatures in check so well is yet to be established, in what has become a key aspect for its rivals to figure out as such understanding of the tyres will translate across into the F1 2026 car designs, even with the revolutionary new ruleset incoming next year.

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McLaren’s advantage is such that the Woking-based squad can start looking ahead to the F1 2026 season but, for the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull, attempting to introduce upgrades to get the same level of understanding of McLaren will be key.

At this point, however, Russell doubts there are any pending upgrades which will catch the MCL39.

“We’ll keep bringing upgrades but I don’t think anything that gets us to McLaren’s level,” he said.

“We’re not the second-best car. We’ve had the second-best results, but in no race have we been clearly the second fastest.

“Only in China were we able to be closer to Verstappen. But we’ve always been the third or fourth team. I’m proud of the results we’re achieving but we need to find more performance. I think our best weekend was that one in China and the McLarens still beat us by over 10 seconds – and when they have their best weekend, they beat us by 40 seconds.”

Russell’s sentiment with regard to the advantage McLaren currently enjoys was echoed by Red Bull team boss Christian Horner in the aftermath of the Miami weekend.

“Obviously, McLaren is the standout car,” he said.

“They had the kind of advantage that we saw a couple of years ago, and they’re obviously doing a very good job in managing temperatures and, particularly, I think if you look at the end of the medium tyre stint, that was probably where they were the most competitive.

“So that’s what we need to focus on.”

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