George Russell commented on the performance of the two McLarens in Miami, where the Briton finished third behind the Papaya cars.
George Russell made the most out of a weekend that had initially seen him struggle a bit. Thanks to a timely Virtual Safety Car, the Briton managed to snatch a podium finish by overtaking Verstappen. This marks his fourth top-three finish of the season—an overall solid, consistent, and high-level campaign so far. However, the gap to McLaren appears unbridgeable, and the only realistic opportunity for other teams might come at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Russell addressed the topic in his post-race interview: “I think it was quite clear how far ahead McLaren was today. When it gets hot, this is what happens. When temperatures are lower, like in China, they win with a 10-second gap, but in conditions like today or in Bahrain, the margin grows—today it was 37 seconds. There’s a team that’s doing things right when it comes to tire management, whereas we still need to find solutions.”
The Briton then added: “Can they be caught? The only realistic way would be if the FIA took something away from them, because at the moment there’s no upgrade that can close this gap. But last year, everyone said the same about Red Bull, and eventually they were caught while others improved. Fingers crossed, but McLaren deserves full credit—they’ve done an outstanding job.”
Photo: X Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team