OPINION: Don't sleep on George Russell
- mtrsprtstoday
- Apr 15
- 3 min read
Eddie Kalegi - Staff Writer
Four races into the 2025 Formula One season, it feels like the general drivers’ championship discourse is unchanged. Despite the results, the public majority still believes it’s a two horse fight between four-time defending champion Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, his primary adversary last season. Even with two wins, including a dominant showing in Bahrain, Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri is struggling to be viewed as a true championship contender.
Piastri unquestionably deserves a seat at the table, but so too does the man who sits fourth in the standings, just 14 points behind the top spot. That man is George Russell.
The 27 year-old Englishman, now in his fourth full-time season behind the wheel for Mercedes, is off to a soaring start to 2025. Russell cruised to a season-best second-place finish on pure pace Sunday in Bahrain, but that should not come as a surprise. The result was already his third podium of the year, having previously crossed the line third in Shanghai and Melbourne. Russell is also just one of two drivers to finish in the top five in every race this season, along with points leader Lando Norris.
What can we attribute Russell’s early season prowess to? I believe there are two key factors, the first of which is low expectations. Entering the 2025 season, of the four predominant constructors of the past decade, Mercedes was the only one without the overwhelming pressure to win now. Ferrari made the slam dunk acquisition of the offseason, but have a small window to succeed with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton now in his forties. Red Bull knows it too is operating on borrowed time, amidst rumors swirling about Max Verstappen’s future with the constructor. Meanwhile, McLaren has its long-term driver lineup set, but with next year’s looming significant regulation changes, its days of having the best car on the grid could very well be numbered.
But Mercedes? The team just lost the legendary Hamilton, replacing him with 18 year-old Kimi Antonelli. The returning Russell had a solid 2024 campaign, setting career-highs with two wins and four poles, but with all the aforementioned storylines, he was forgotten about in the grand scheme. Quelled expectations have allowed George Russell to comfortably float below the radar, and the result has been palpable success.
The second factor is public perception. With Hamilton’s exit, Russell pivoted to the true “number one” role at Mercedes. But let’s not forget that in his three seasons teamed up with Hamilton, Russell actually finished ahead of the all-time great in the final standings twice. People point to Russell at his worst (eight finishes of 16th or worse since 2023, his ongoing feud with Max Verstappen), but seldom acknowledge him at his best. In fact, since his move to Mercedes to replace Valteri Bottas, Russell has more wins, poles, and podiums than Hamilton. This isn’t Russell taking advantage of a seven-time champion in decline. Rather, it’s Russell quietly emerging into a number one caliber talent before our very eyes, and now with the opportunity to lead in 2025, he has seized it.
Statistics aside, the question remains: will Russell remain relevant in the championship conversation as the season progresses? Sergio Perez won two of the first four races of the 2023 season and subsequently fell off a cliff, ultimately losing his Red Bull seat less than two years later. Fernando Alonso had an unbelievable start to his tenure at Aston Martin, but the team has failed to come anywhere close to replicating that performance, even with the addition of Adrian Newey to the engineering team. Early season results can be misleading.
It would be perfectly understandable if George Russell and Mercedes ultimately take a step back as we get deeper into the year, but I just don’t see that happening. 2025 feels like a perfect storm for Russell to remain a player in the championship fight for the duration. Rest of the grid, be warned.
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