“I don't know how they're found this much performance” - George Russell feels McLaren an ‘inspiration’ for Mercedes to fight back

George Russell admitted that he was surprised to see the McLarens during the 2023 British Grand Prix with so much pace, ultimately reaching the podium.

Lando Norris had an upgrade in his MCL60 before the Austrian Grand Prix earlier, which made them relatively faster. He battled Lewis Hamilton during that race and finished ahead of him; pretty much what happened during the British GP, but for better positions. These upgrades were also added to his teammate Oscar Piastri's car, which made him pretty fast.

George Russell stated that he was pretty surprised to see them have this pace and stay somewhat ahead of Mercedes. ESPN quoted him as saying:

"I see no reason why they shouldn't be up there now. We've come from Red Bull Ring, which is a very different circuit to Silverstone. And they were a small step ahead of us on both occasions."

He added:

"So I don't know how they're found this much performance. It's been quite surprising. We don't tend to focus too much on our competitors. We just need to keep focusing on ourselves."

McLaren's performance earned them a whopping 30 points during the British GP. Lando Norris had a massive P2 finish and his teammate Oscar Piastri tailed Lewis Hamilton to P4. They have maintained themselves well above at Alpine now.

---

McLaren has inspired the crew at Mercedes, according to George Russell

MCL60's improvement has been massive in contrast to how they were at the start of the season. Right at the back of the grid, both Norris and Piastri's future with the team was under constant speculation about their future.

However, their performance in the past two races has been stunning and has earned them a lot of respect from others. George Russell mentioned that the team has 'inspired' Mercedes to improve themselves.

"Yes, it gives us inspiration that it can be possible, but we need to try and turn it up and we need to find more performance and quick."

Mercedes have been trying to revive their performance ever since the 2022 season. While the team struggled during the past season with the W13, they have improved to an extent this season, remaining in the top three. Currently, they are competing with Aston Martin for second place in the championship standings.