George Russell is feeling good ahead of an F1 season he and Mercedes are tipped to dominate (Image: Getty)
You won’t find a single major bookmaker in the country offering shorter odds on any other driver winning the Formula 1 title than those given to George Russell. The Brit has always had a spring in his step, but has been strutting around with an extra air of confidence in pre-season. He knows, like many have suspected for a while now, that his new Mercedes car is a good one.
But Russell has been warned that he faces a threat from two rival drivers who, in comparison, haven’t really been talked about all that much in terms of the title conversation. And it is strange, given that McLaren are the defending champions, that neither 2025 title-winner Lando Norris nor his team-mate Oscar Piastri, who led the standings for six months last year, have had as much of the pre-season spotlight.
Sky Sports F1 analyst Bernie Collins believes that is by design. « I think they’ve actively tried to go under the radar. They’ve not gone for the glory run laps [in testing]. Even last year, they tried to downsell their chances of securing the constructors’ quite early, » the former McLaren and Aston Martin strategist told Express Sport.
« But they will have the same power unit as Mercedes. Yes, they’ve had to integrate it into their car, and that’s not as simple a process, but they should still produce a pretty strong chassis and car, I think.
« What’s exciting this season is we’ve got quite a few cars close behind, which is not what we were expecting. We were expecting more of a gulf between cars, at least at this stage. »
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Collins’ Sky Sports colleague, presenter Natalie Pinkham, agrees that McLaren have quietly gone unnoticed up to now and believes it will benefit both their drivers.
For her, the 2026 campaign is going to be a big test in particular for Piastri, after his late-season collapse last term saw him slip from first to third in the standings.
Pinkham believes it could go one of two ways for the Aussie.
She said: « I don’t think that’s a bad thing if they have been overlooked. It’s quite good for them for once, and it’s been a while, to be under the radar and all the attention elsewhere.
« Lando has got the monkey off his back. He’s bagged his first world title, and he’ll have an air of confidence about him going into 2026.
« I’m really interested to see how Oscar responds because he’s clearly a brilliant driver, great guy, very competitive, very talented.
« It’s how he now responds. It was such a brilliant start to the year, and then it all fell apart from Holland onwards, which was inexplicable, really. Baku, weird weekend, it didn’t make any sense. He’ll want to make amends for that. »
McLaren have gone under the radar in pre-season despite being the defending champions (Image: Getty)
Regardless, both of them do still believe that Russell will be the one to stop in 2026.
Collins said: « I do think Mercedes are the favourites, if I had to put my money on something. » And Pinkham added: « I think George is the favourite.
« I’ve actually thought that for a while. Not just because he’s now got a great Grand Prix-winning car potentially underneath him, but also just because I feel he’s in the right place.
« He’s been very patient with his career. He’s watched his close mates in Alex [Albon] and Lando go to teams at the front of the grid while he was still at Williams.
« He’s bided his time, and he’s learnt his trade, and he has learnt from the best in Lewis [Hamilton], and now he’s leading the team with Kimi [Antonelli].
« And I think 2026 could be his year. A bit of strutting, shoulders back, all the confidence. But that’s great. He’s such a lovely bloke, and it’s good to see him blossoming in that role. »
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