Russell on McLaren threat: “We’re the fastest we’ve ever done”

Written by Bo Helmus

Russell didn’t expect this much of a threat in Japan | Credit: Formula One

Mercedes has had a dream start to the 2026 season. The W17 is flying, resulting in two 1-2 finishes in a row. Their only threat seemed to be Ferrari, but in Japan, it seems like McLaren have found their form as well with some competitive times in the practice sessions. 

George Russell is leading the drivers’ championship by four points to his teammate after they’ve both won a race, but the Brit won the sprint in China as well. With only two races under their belt, the gap in the championship between first and third place is already an entire race win. 

First signs of a threat

The Silver Arrows have it all under control, as it seems, but their competitors are getting closer. Ferrari has been on their tail since Australia, but now McLaren is also showing significant improvements. Is that a reason for the German team to get worried?

The W17 has won all (sprint)races so far in 2026 | Credit: Formula One

Russell is happy with their performance in the practice sessions: “It was a good day. It was nice being back in Suzuka. There’s been a lot of chat about how these cars and these engines would face around here. In the quali laps, we’re a bit down on speed in the first corner, but the esses are still really fast.”

Is Mercedes quick enough?

The Brit states that his car is still the best on the grid: “The speed we get up to halfway down the back straight is the fastest we’ve ever done. So that’s pretty cool and pretty good to see.”

Mercedes might have hit their fastest pace so far, but the competitors are closing the gap. In the first practice session, McLaren started showing their good form again and set lap times that were only 0.132 from the lead. 

The McLarens are applying the pressure on Mercedes | Credit: Formula One

In the second session, the Papayas were the fastest and the Mercedes’ were stuck in a McLaren-sandwich. Oscar Piastri set the quickest lap time of the day with a 1:30.133. Kimi Antonelli was barely a tenth slower, but Russell was 0.205 behind. Lando Norris came in fourth. 

It is clear Mercedes didn’t expect McLaren to be this quick: “As for us, McLaren were pretty fast. A little bit of a surprise, to be honest,” Russel said. “There’s still some improvements that we need to do, so a bit of work to do.” 

When asked if the threat from the Papayas is real, the Brit answered: “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be genuine, to be honest. I think Lando has had a bit of a disruptive day, but Oscar was pretty on it from the first lap out of the box. I think we’ll find out, come qualifying.”

Russell says Mercedes is the ‘fastest they’ve ever been’ | Credit: Formula One

The team remains confident

Russell mentions that Mercedes is still improving its car: “We’ve got some more to give and things weren’t quite optimised, especially on my side with the energy management. So hopefully a little bit more to come.

“I think there’s some quite big differences in the deployment between teams and what’s been optimised over the course of the lap. So I think we didn’t quite have that right, but that should be a relatively easy fix.”

Let’s see if the other teams can bring the fans a proper fight for the win, but for now, Mercedes is looking confident.