Lando Norris drops a snide remark reacting to George Russell's claims

Lando Norris said that he felt George Russell was smarter when he reacted to the Mercedes driver's comments about McLaren. On the eve of the F1 Chinese GP, Russell was not too confident about the rivals' prospects against the reigning champions and claimed that the team had such a massive advantage that it did not need to develop its 2025 F1 challenger anymore and could just focus on 2026.

The 2025 F1 season has started on an intriguing note. In the first race of the season, McLaren was in a class of its own. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri sealed the front row and had a definitive edge in terms of performance over everyone else.

The race in China was a bit closer as neither of the McLaren duo won the sprint, and the race also saw Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull not too far behind. Heading into the race weekend in Shanghai, George Russell had made the claim that Lando Norris' car had an advantage similar to what Max Verstappen had in 2023 when he won 19 out of the 22 races.

Lando Norris scoffed at the suggestion and said that he thought George Russell was smarter than that. He told The Telegraph,

"What? A bigger lead than the Red Bull that won everything? Of course. I thought he was smarter, but he clearly isn't. I don't even have to say anything. I think it's clear enough that he isn't. George thinks he can play a lot of games, but I'm not buying it. The car is clearly not as strong (as the 2023 Red Bull). But George can do what he wants. I'm happy that he thinks that way."

When asked if these games meant Russell was in Norris' head, the McLaren driver said,

"No, it's the opposite. It's like I'm in his head, when he thinks we can't be caught anymore."

What George Russell had said about Lando Norris' car

Going into the F1 Chinese GP, George Russell cited the example of Red Bull in 2024, which started the season with a strong car but faded as the season progressed. According to the Mercedes driver, this was an anomaly as the team encountered issues with car development.

Lando Norris' car had a similar advantage, according to Russell, as he said,

"They have such a big advantage that they can essentially stop development now and go all in on 2026. It's going to be hard to close that gap. Red Bull started 2024 with a big lead on the rest, but I don't think they've necessarily caught up with the rest in terms of development."

Russell did end the F1 Chinese GP on P3, hunting down Norris. It would be interesting to hear what his perspective is about the McLaren after an encouraging weekend for the German team.