George Russell makes a bold claim after an impressive start to the 2025 F1 season with Mercedes

George Russell has claimed that he's absolutely ready to fight for the championship. The young driver has been a part of Mercedes since his junior racing days. He made his F1 debut in 2019 with Williams, and after spending three years with the team proving his worth, he finally got a promotion.

In 2022, he teamed up with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. The driver got the better of the seven-time champion and outscored him. The second season with the team in 2023 was riddled with far too many mistakes. Hamilton gained the upper hand on him and outscored him.

It was in 2024, however, that Russell pulled away. The driver outclassed his veteran teammate, who had announced that he would be leaving Mercedes at the end of the year.

With Hamilton's departure from the team, Russell has taken another step in 2025. The driver seems more confident and has not left many points on the table this season. When questioned if he feels ready to fight for a title, the driver told the Athletic:

“I absolutely feel ready, to be honest. Whenever we’ve had half a chance of victory or pole, we’ve been the one to take it. I feel I’m getting stronger and stronger every single season. I feel ready, I feel confident, I have self-belief. I feel I’m performing as good as any single driver on the grid."

He added:

“I’m never going to say I am performing the best — because even if I were, I choose not to have that mentality because I always think if you believe that you are at the top of your game that is the beginning of the downfall. You always have to believe that there’s more to give.”

George Russell praised by Toto Wolff

George Russell's level of performance has even drawn praise from Toto Wolff, as the Austrian continues to say that Mercedes is looking to extend the partnership with the British driver beyond 2025. Talking to the media, Wolff said that there was nothing that the team could demand from the driver. He said:

“At the moment, where it is with George and Kimi, there’s no doubt to question that set up for the future. There’s no stress. He’s performing to the highest levels, as we have hoped and expected. He’s delivering – there’s no doubt about that. There’s not more you could demand from that.”

Russell's contract ends this season, and negotiations are still ongoing. It will be interesting to see if the driver sticks to the team or if Max Verstappen's presence means he'll have to make a move to a different team.