Mercedes’ George Russell expects “Ferrari to be our closest competitors” this weekend in the Chinese Grand Prix, and admits he is taking “nothing for granted” despite a strong start to the 2026 campaign.
Russell led home team mate Kimi Antonelli last weekend in Melbourne as Mercedes claimed a 1-2 in the first race under the new regulations, prompting some early speculation that this year’s titles will be going to the German manufacturer.
Despite a seemingly dominant performance in Australia, Russell believes that Ferrari’s strategy decision not to pit either race leader Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton under a Virtual Safety Car made the margin of victory look greater.
“Charles gave me a proper fight in Melbourne and he was ahead of me for the VSC,” said Russell during Thursday’s media day in Shanghai.
“If he pitted under the VSC, I don’t think we would have finished 1-2. Maybe I could have got past him for the win but it would have been a proper tussle.
“We were quicker than we expected in Qualifying; I think other people didn’t expect us to be that quick but the pace on Sunday, we were nip and tuck with Ferrari, which is more in line with what we expected.”
Ferrari will run its ‘flip-flop’ rear wing this weekend, which in theory will give both Leclerc and Hamilton a distinct advantage down the one-kilometre back straight in Shanghai.
With development of the 2026 cars likely to be rapid this season, and with McLaren and Red Bull having yet to bring a substantial upgrade, Russell is wary of the potential threat to come from his rivals.
“I think, from what we saw in Melbourne, at this early stage of the season I expect Ferrari to be our closest competitors,” he said.
“But Max [Verstappen] was very quick, he came from the back and you can be confident he would have qualified probably in the top three without his problem.
“The championship is won over a long season. This start is good because the car is performing well, but other than that it doesn’t mean much more.
“We have to keep pushing, Ferrari are very close behind. We saw it in the race, they were super fast. McLaren still have no major updates from winter testing and we think they are overweight currently.
“I’m sure when McLaren bring an update, the development will be very quick. We take nothing for granted.”
