George Russell and Mercedes enjoying ‘great start’ to 2025 F1 season

On paper, 2025 looked to be a transition year for Mercedes.

The Formula 1 team saw one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport leave at the end of the 2024 campaign, with Lewis Hamilton departing for Ferrari. Toto Wolff and company tapped young Kimi Antonelli to drive alongside George Russell for the 2025 season, and with both drivers on contracts set to expire at the end of the current campaign, the specter of the driver transfer market is always looming.

But so far, the 2025 season has been anything but a transition season for the Silver Arrows.

Russell has a pair of podiums over two races, finishing third in both the Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix. And with Antonelli off to a strong start as well, both drivers have finished in the points in each event this year, results that have Mercedes sitting second in the Constructors’ Championship standings as the grid arrives in Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Speaking at the FIA Press Conference on Thursday, Russell talked about his, and the team’s, strong start.

“Yeah, I mean obviously the first two races have been great – two podiums – and we couldn’t really have hoped for much more,” started Russell.

However, the Mercedes driver remained as diplomatic as ever when he looked at the rest of the grid.

“I think we also have to be realistic. We are only two races into a long season and I don’t think probably Ferrari and maybe Red Bull have maximized their potential as yet,” continued Russell. “So we don’t want to get carried away thinking this is possible week in, week out. But we definitely know that if we do the best job to our own abilities, we’ll be there in the mix.”

Russell then talked about the W16, the team’s challenger for the 2025 season. After a few years where Mercedes struggled to get a handle on their car, they look to have a strong and stable platform as this season begins.

The Mercedes driver stated that the W16 has surprised him so far this year.

“Yeah, I think it has [surprised him],” began Russell. “We know in qualifying we’ve always been pretty strong. But I think it was quite refreshing in China to see that our race pace was also pretty decent and we were the second-fastest team in China. There were a lot of positives to take away.

“We go to Japan, which was probably one of our worst races last year, so it’ll be quite an interesting test to see if we’ve improved the car compared to this time 12 months ago.”

Russell also faced a series of questions regarding his own title chase. While Lando Norris and Max Verstappen are currently sitting one-two in the Drivers’ Championship race, Russell is third in that chase, just one point behind Verstappen and nine behind Norris.

The Mercedes driver downplayed his title hopes, but did note that life in F1 can change rather quickly.

“Ultimately, from my side, I’m just going in every single weekend trying to perform to the maximum,” said Russell. “These last three years as well, alongside Lewis – his name was always there with championships because he’s the GOAT. But the last three years, neither of our names were there because we weren’t in the position to fight.

“Look, this season it’s been a great start to the year. I don’t think we could have achieved a better result than we expected, and I hope we can continue this sort of run of consistency. But we know realistically the McLarens are exceptionally strong, and I think it’s going to be challenging for anybody else to compete with them,” added Russell.

“But you know, we saw last year how dominant Red Bull were, and suddenly they weren’t at the end of the season. So yeah, things change quickly.”

Russell was then asked if he was “annoyed” at not being mentioned as a title contender. The Mercedes driver brushed that aside, noting that he gets to live his “dream” each weekend as an F1 driver.

“I mean, not really, to be honest. I’m going in every single weekend. I’m a Formula One driver living my dream,” said Russell. “It’s not what the perception is — it’s what the reality is. The reality is if we’re going to fight for a championship this year, we need to improve. This year has been a great start to the season. But the same way the last three seasons have been, I feel that I’ve personally performed very well. I’ve had one of the strongest teammates ever.

“I’m not looking for external recognition. I’m just looking to go racing every single weekend, perform, and doing my job.”

That job continues later this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix.