Watch: George Russell teases Lando Norris for being the bookmaker's favorite to win the 2025 F1 championship

Mercedes driver George Russell teased his good friend and McLaren driver Lando Norris for being the bookmakers' favorite to win the Driver's Championship in the 2025 season. The British driver finished a career-best P2 in the championship last year behind Max Verstappen by a margin of 63 points.

The 25-year-old's campaign was full of hope owing to the MCL38's performance last season. However, he could not take advantage of having a more dominant car than the Red Bull driver.

With the Woking-based outfit winning the Constructor's Championship last year for the first time since 1998, many have predicted that they will once again be the team to beat. Bookies too have put the British team to be the leader of the pack with Norris emerging as the favorite in the Driver's Championship.

While interacting with the media at the F175 Launch in London on February 18, George Russell pulled Lando Norris's leg for being the bookmaker's favorite and said:

"Do you guys know you're the favorite this year?"

To which his fellow countryman replied:

"Shut up."

Russell continued:

"He's the favorite. World Champion."

Norris played along with the joke and said:

"I know. I'm not, I was second last year. Favorite in the bookies. I'm gonna make people a lot of money this year."

Lando Norris had four race wins in the 2024 season and just managed to hold on to the P2 slot from Charles Leclerc given the latter finished just 18 points behind him.

Lando Norris responds to claims of being favorite in 2025

McLaren driver Lando Norris stated that he was not too bothered with the fact of being bookmakers' favorite for the title this year and claimed that he will take it "one step at a time."

Speaking with Sky Sports News, the 25-year-old reflected on being primed for a title fight and said:

“I don’t know, I take it one step at a time. It’s a nice thing, so I appreciate all those guys out there and girls who are out there [supporting] me, but I’m focused on this year. I felt good after last season. I felt like I wanted to continue after Abu Dhabi – I ended on the right note, and I knew I needed to improve on some areas and some things, but I felt like I proved to myself that I’ve got what it takes.

“So I’m definitely not coming in with any overconfidence or arrogance, my whole life, I’ve been telling myself, that I can’t, and it’s nice that I tell myself for once that I can and that the opportunity is there."

Norris pointed out that it would be crucial for him and the team to start the season strong as they lost out on a lot of points last year to Red Bull at the beginning of the 2024 season.