George Russell believes that Max Verstappen has not been sufficiently challenged in this year’s title battle. Looking ahead to 2025, Russell is excited about fighting the Dutchman and applying some pressure:
Russell reveals “plan” to bring fight to Verstappen
George Russell became the seventh driver in 2024 to claim at least two victories at the Las Vegas GP.
The 26-year-old converted Pole Position into the race win in Nevada, generally controlling the pace in a W15 that was superior to the competition.
Since arriving at Mercedes in 2022, Russell has held his own against 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
Regardless of Hamilton’s own frustrations and struggles this season, Russell deserves praise for performing at a consistently high level.
With Kimi Antonelli joining him at Mercedes next year, the 3-time race winner will be eager to establish himself as the team leader.
However, his ambitions go far beyond beating his teammate.
Russell wants to bring the fight to Max Verstappen in 2025:
“I just want to make sure we give him that fight now,” he told Viaplay.
“Because it’s about time somebody gave him a proper fight.
“That’s my plan, that’s what I want to do. He’s a fierce competitor, and Red Bull have done amazing.
“But this championship probably should have gone down to the wire.
“You could argue Max probably wasn’t the favourite at one point, and yet he wins it with three races to go.
“So we need to get our stuff together, to make it a bit more challenging.”
At this stage, making any predictions on the 2025 title contenders is difficult.
With that said, all the evidence suggests that Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren will all in contention.
Verstappen managed to outperform Norris in the superior MCL38 this year, but it will be difficult for the Dutchman to win a fifth consecutive title if Red Bull don’t step up their game.
Assuming that Mercedes can build upon their Las Vegas 1-2 finish, George Russell has reason to aim for the Championship next season – which inevitably means getting the better of Max Verstappen.
