Mercedes are one of many teams to bring significant upgrades to the American GP. The W15 will feature some of its biggest changes of 2024 in COTA. However, George Russell still expects McLaren to dominate the upcoming rounds. From Russell’s perspective, the Woking-based outfit should have won many more races this season.
George Russell evaluates Mercedes chances against McLaren in COTA
Prior to the summer break, Mercedes had great great momentum. Mid-season upgrades catapulted the W15 up the pecking order, allowing Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton to claim three victories and regular podiums.
However, the last four race weekends have made clear that McLaren are the team to beat.
Having claimed three wins in the last four races, McLaren are beginning to capitalise on the MCL38’s superiority. Their lead in the constructors’ standings, which is already notable, could easily increase before the year ends.
With that said, George Russell argues that Andrea Stella’s team have left plenty of wins on the table:
“I think at the moment McLaren are without doubt the most dominant team.
“Arguably they could have won every race since as long as I can remember really – they’ve definitely had the car to do so.
“We’ve just got to keep putting ourself in a position to capitalise when people make errors, and I think we can still fight for the top four positions on the grid, fight for that podium.
“If Max and Lando come together, we can maybe sneak a win! At the moment, we are still that step behind.”
Russell’s assessment is probably one that McLaren themselves would agree with.
Strategic, operational and driver-related mistakes have cost the team victory in Canada, Silverstone and Monza among other circuits.
Still, as evidenced quite painfully by Aston Martin last season, transitioning from the midfield to the sharp end of the grid is no easy task. Even with their fair share of blunders, McLaren are in a good position to win both F1 Championships this season.
It now comes down to how Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and the wider team deliver in these final races.
