George Russell anoints 'dominant' 9x F1 world champion as favorites for the 2025 season

George Russell feels that McLaren, the reigning F1 world champion, will be the favorite in 2025 as teams get ready for the start of the season. The 2024 F1 season was a strange one that began with Red Bull dominating the grid just like it had in 2023.

When the Woking-based squad introduced its first major upgrade in Miami, it jumped to the front and continued to be a factor at the front of the grid until the end of the season. At the same time, we had teams like Ferrari and Mercedes having weekends where their car was in the right window, and hence they picked up wins.

While McLaren was more or less a permanent fixture near the front of the grid, Ferrari won multiple races last season; George Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton also picked up a couple of wins each. Heading into the 2025 F1 season, the top 4 are already very close to each other, and hence the gains made in the winter are going to be important.

Looking ahead to the season, George Russell anointed McLaren as the team that was going to be favorites in 2025. He told media, including RacingNews365:

“When you look at how dominant McLaren was in the second half of last year, without a doubt they’re the favourites going into this year. And when people had their strong weekends, McLaren was still there or thereabouts. I think they only had a one-off weekend in probably the whole of 2024."

He added:

“Why it's going to be so interesting is whoever continues to develop will probably win the championship. But you'll pay the price in 2026. Teams who come out the blocks and it's a close battle, they might continue to develop.”

George Russell points to the 2021 battle between Mercedes and Red Bull

George Russell also pointed out the 2021 F1 title battle between Red Bull and Mercedes where both teams went deep into the season trying to fine-tune their cars. Ultimately it was the German team that had the slight edge in the last few races as the squad made impressive gains in the later stages of the season.

Pointing to the battle, George Russell said,

“We also saw it in 2021, with Lewis and Max, Mercedes stopped developing and somehow they just fine-tuned the car and the setup and found massive performance in the second half of the year. It was just by unlocking the set-up a little bit more. Naturally, always in that final year of the regulations, it becomes closer. But I still expect McLaren to be right at the forefront plan to be right at the forefront."

It would be interesting to see the direction the title battle goes in 2025. If the top 4 teams are very close to each other, it could mean that nobody has the luxury to take the foot off the pedal for 2026.