George Russell gives verdict on F1 title chances after ‘trial and error’ years at Mercedes

Russell will be Mercedes’ No 1 driver after Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in the off-season

George Russell believes he can “absolutely” win the 2025 F1 drivers’ title if Mercedes provide him with a car capable of winning races.

The British driver is heading into his fourth season at the Silver Arrows but first without Lewis Hamilton as his teammate after the seven-time F1 world champion moved to Ferrari in the off-season.

Italian 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli has taken Hamilton’s place and as the experienced driver, heading into his seventh F1 season, Russell insists he is ready to launch a championship challenge.

“Yeah absolutely,” Russell told Sky Sports News, when asked whether he can challenge for the title this year.

“I feel ready, everybody in the team is so motivated. I feel these years have been trial and error but every time we’ve had a chance to win, we’ve won.

“That’s what gives me the optimism that if we do have the car, we can achieve it.

“We’re working as hard as we can for it to be this year, everybody is fully on board and it’s going to be an exciting season.”

George Russell is heading into his fourth season with Mercedes and seventh in F1 (Getty Images)

The 26-year-old concluded the 2024 campaign in a spat with four-time world champion Max Verstappen after an incident in Qatar but still finished in front of Hamilton in the final championship standings.

Russell won two races in 2024 – in Austria and Las Vegas – and had a win taken away from him in Belgium due to disqualification.

Mercedes will unveil their 2025 car livery at the 10-team season launch event at The O2 Arena in London next Tuesday, before revealing their full car at a team launch on Monday 24 February.

The 2025 F1 season starts on 16 March in Australia.