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Russell questions Norris' 'selfish' approach amid heavy 2026 F1 car criticism

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Photo: Race Pictures

F1 News

12:24, 09 Mar

Updated: 13:58, 09 Mar

4 Comments

byKada Sarkozi

George Russell argues that Lando Norris' opinion would differ on the 2026 F1 cars if McLaren had the same advantage as last year.

"I don’t know. If he was winning, I don’t think he’d be saying the same."

- George Russell

Russell won the opening round of the F1 season in dominant fashion ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc.

After the session, the British driver was asked about defending world champion Lando Norris' verdict, who said over the weekend that F1 went from the best cars to drive to the worst.

"Yeah, well, he’s always… yeah, yeah. I don’t know. If he was winning, I don’t think he’d be saying the same," Russell reacted.

"We weren’t happy with how stiff the cars were last year and the porpoising, and everyone had a bad back and drivers were complaining about that, but McLaren drivers said there was no porpoising even though we watched their car and they were porpoising.

Lando Norris - Photo: Race Pictures

"So, you know, everyone’s always looking to themselves and we’re all selfish in this regard.

"The truth is last year we had the same engine as them and McLaren did a better job than us and they beat us.

"Now McLaren have got the same engine as us, the same as Williams and the same as Alpine, and so far we’ve done a better job than them. So that’s just how the game goes," the Mercedes driver concluded.

Wolff echoes Russell's thoughts

Mercedes CEO and team boss Toto Wolff was also surprised by Norris' verdict. The Austrian said: "I didn't hear any one of the drivers speaking particularly well of the last cars and saying it was the best car, so we tend to be very nostalgic when looking at past events."