Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli had a relatively uneventful race in Japan. They neither gained nor lost positions, but still managed to score good points for the team by finishing fifth and sixth respectively. Russell, who has already stood on the podium in Melbourne and Shanghai, is hoping for better performance in the upcoming Grands Prix, although he also warns that McLaren has not yet shown its full potential.
While Mercedes was consistently among the front-runners in the lead-up to the qualifying, the team did not compete for a top three spot on Sunday. Even Charles Leclerc, who crossed the finish line in fourth place, outperformed Russell. The data shows that when it comes to high-speed performance, the Silberpfeilen are still lagging behind McLaren and Max Verstappen. With the new regulations for 2026 in mind, it will also be difficult to invest in a major catch-up this year.
McLaren’s Best is Yet to Come
Russell is convinced that McLaren’s best performances are still ahead. He believes that the team’s lead will only continue to grow. “In recent years, I haven’t been particularly consistent,” he admitted to the German branch of Sky Sports. “This year, I wanted to work on having fewer ups and downs. On that front, the year has started off quite well. I’m relatively satisfied – we couldn’t have done better in the first two Grands Prix.” However, Russell had hoped for more in Japan. “A fourth-place finish would have been more fitting.”
Despite Max Verstappen‘s victory at Suzuka, Russell knows that McLaren still has the fastest car. He believes that the true power dynamics have not yet been revealed due to suboptimal conditions in the past three races: “McLaren’s best is yet to come – these were three cold races. When we go to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where the temperature is 35 degrees, we’ll see the McLaren team shine. We’ve always been stronger in cooler conditions, so I’m staying realistic. We’ve had three good races, but there are still twenty-one to go.”
