George Russell has pointed to Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc as Mercedes’ main title threats ahead of the 2026 F1 season.
Russell is seen as favorite for the title by bookmakers and also by Sky Sports F1 experts, given Mercedes’ form in pre-season testing and their advantage after the last changes to the power unit regulations in 2014.
Ferrari set the fastest lap time at the Bahrain test, but Mercedes was much faster on the more representative long runs, so the Silver Arrows didn’t seem to be at full strength over the entire lap.
Asked who he thought were Mercedes’ biggest title challengers when it came to the drivers’ championship, Russell told the media: “I think Max and Leclerc.”
His teammate Kimi Antonelli added: “We think Red Bull are very strong, so Max will definitely be in the team. Ferrari looks very strong in Bahrain, both on long runs and on single laps. Especially Leclerc, but Lewis could also be in the team, so we won’t take it lightly.”
“Maybe McLaren as well, but compared to Ferrari and Red Bull they look a little behind, but it’s certainly possible that Max and Charles will be the main players.”
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George Russell targets Max Verstappen in 2026, says Red Bull driver will continue to race this season
However, Russell appeared to soften his stance when discussing title contenders on Sky Sports F1 later in media day.
“Red Bull have exceeded everyone’s expectations with their engine, so of course Max will be involved. Ferrari also looks very strong,” he said.
“Charles looks very strong, but you can’t discount Lewis (Hamilton) at all. As things stand, they are the other drivers to watch and I think they will be in the running.”
“McLaren have been very successful over the years. They look a bit on the back foot at the moment, but that can all change. We saw that a few years ago when they went from the back to the front, so we can’t ignore anyone.”
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Lewis Hamilton says he is very happy in his second year at Ferrari and sets his sights on winning the title in 2026
Russell has spent four seasons with Mercedes, failing to deliver a consistently race-winning car, but is yet to challenge for the F1 championship.
The 28-year-old says this year is a “huge opportunity” but he is in a “good position” and “ready to take on” his rivals.
“I’m working on getting the absolute maximum out of the package, just like everyone else during the season,” he said.
“I think we have a strong car at the moment, but the speed of development is very fast with every new regulation, so we’re not taking anything for granted.”
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Martin Brundle believes George Russell has the confidence to fight for the title if the car allows
“Even in 2022, we saw Ferrari being a team that won the first four or five races, but by the end of the season they weren’t even in contention for the championship.
“We have to be very diligent. And even if we start the season well, it doesn’t mean much. So we have to keep pushing and just take it game by game.”
Russell: Red Bull ‘suspiciously slow’ in second Bahrain test
Russell had already expressed wariness about Red Bull’s pace in pre-season testing, saying in the first Bahrain test that Red Bull had an advantage in energy deployment by “more than half a second”. After the second Test, he said his “horrifying” advantage had “shrunk significantly”.
This year, energy adoption will be very important due to new power unit regulations that will split the output between 50% internal combustion engine and 50% electric.
He said of Red Bull in Melbourne: “From our side, there was no strategic poker at all. We’ve been very consistent with our run plans over the two weeks, and we’ve been pretty consistent in terms of fuel load and power.”
“During the test we didn’t change our plan based on whether we were strong or slow. I think Red Bull looked suspiciously slow in the second test.”
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Max Verstappen says he’s not overcomplicating Red Bull and joked that if he had to race a ‘shopping cart’ he’d drive it to the limit
“I think they were the fastest in the first test, but based on our numbers, in the second test they were seven tenths slower than themselves. On the other hand, we and Ferrari had some new upgrades to the car and were a few tenths faster. I’m having a hard time understanding how they lost seven tenths in a week because you’re all improving too.”
“To be honest, I expect them to be very strong. That’s why we’re all very interested to see what the outcome will be.”
Red Bull is working with Ford to build its own Red Bull powertrain engine, and the new project was expected to lag in performance compared to Ferrari and Mercedes.
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F1’s most intense moments that happened outside the car
However, although the Milton Keynes-based team were largely reliable and fast in testing considering the expectations, Verstappen did not want to be drawn into comparisons with other top teams.
“I’m very happy with what we did in pre-season. How the whole project came together between the engine and the car was a great and proud moment for everyone,” he said.
“I was positively surprised by how everything felt. The rule changes were really complicated, but in terms of the feel of the car and the driving experience, it was good.”
“Performance-wise, we want to be a little bit faster. But considering what we learned, I don’t think we were the fastest. But you never know[how Red Bull will stack up].”
Sky Sports F1 Australian GP Schedule
Thursday, March 5th
9:45pm: F3 practice
10:55pm: F2 practice
Friday, March 6th
1am: Australian GP Practice 1 (Session starts at 1:30am)*
2:55am: F3 Qualifying*
3:30am: Team boss press conference
3:50am: F2 Qualifying*
4:35am: Australian GP Practice 2 (session starts at 5am)*
6:15am: F1 Show*
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Grammy-nominated Tate McRae’s ‘Just Keep Watching’ will be the new title track of Sky Sports’ F1 coverage from this season onwards as F1 enters a new era
Saturday, March 7th
0.10am: F3 sprint*
1:10am: Australian GP Practice 3 (session starts at 1:30am)*
3:05am: F2 Sprint*
4:10am: Australian GP qualifying build-up*
5am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifying*
7am: Ted’s Qualification Notebook*
9:45pm: F3 Feature Race*
Sunday, March 8th
12:20am: F2 Feature Race*
2:30am: Preparation for Australian Grand Prix: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: Australian Grand Prix*
6am: Australian Grand Prix reaction: Checkered flag*
7am: Ted’s Notes*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP Highlights (also on Sky One)*
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
Watch every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, starting with the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
