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Fans reacted to George Russell's encounter with McLaren driver Lando Norris during the F1 75 launch event at the O2 in London. The former discussed how the McLaren driver was the favorite to win the World Championship in the upcoming season after a runner-up finish last year.
The F1 75 marked the launch of the 2025 Formula 1 season, which is also the sport's 75th anniversary year. This was a one-of-a-kind event held in the history of the sport, where all the teams revealed their liveries for the upcoming season. The event was filled with laughter, musical performances, and drivers' insights before the new season.
Shortly after the event, Mercedes senior driver George Russell had a short conversation with Lando Norris, as he mentioned that the McLaren driver was the favorite in this year's schedule.
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"Hello mate. Do you know you're the favourite this year? He's the favorite," Russell said. "[...]You're like, well, you're favorite."
To this, Norris hilariously replied:
"Favorite in the bookies. I'm going to make people a lot of money this year."
This conversation between the two drivers left fans laughing as they left hilarious comments under the post. A user wrote:
"My names George Russel and this is my 10th drink"
"When these two get together it never fails," mentioned another user.
"Save to say he isn't driving home lol," a user remarked.
Some of the fans also commented on George Russell's outfit, like a user mentioning that the Mercedes driver did not appear to be a racing driver."George Russell looks like he's in bed by 9pm wjth a good novel and taking notes, not like a guy who enjoys driving round at 250mph."
"George looks like he dresses as Marv for fancy dress," another comment read.
"George is aiming to become the team's new fashion icon," another fan wrote.
George Russell on Mercedes' "reasonable step" heading into the 2025 F1 season
Heading into the 2025 F1 season, George Russell is set to be the senior driver on the team, following Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari. The team finished third in the championship last year and won multiple races. This was a major improvement considering their performance since 2022.
Russell mentioned that the team took a "reasonable step" working in the simulator, however, he remains unsure of their performance against their competitors. He said, via F1:
"We’ve been more thorough than ever in terms of the simulator, just to ensure that we’re not going to fall into a new trap, and so far it’s a reasonable step. Obviously you’ve no idea what everyone else is doing and it’s going to be quite an interesting season with how people deploy the resources between ’25 and ’26."
The Briton will be joined by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, set to make his F1 debut with the team after his first season in Formula 2. He was picked as Hamilton's replacement.
