George Russell has warned that teams will “pay the price” in 2026 should they push development in a championship bid in 2025.
The 2026 season will see a complete reset in the technical regulations, meaning that teams will have to split their budgets and limited CFD and aerodynamic testing accordingly to avoid being left behind in the new era.
With 2025 being built up as potentially being one of the closest seasons on record, there could be a temptation for teams to seize an opportunity to gain a notable success through development, although chasing this outcome could come at a lasting cost.
“I think why it is going to be so interesting is because whoever continues to develop will probably win the championship, but you’ll pay the price in 2026,” George Russell said.
“So teams who come out of the blocks and it’s a close battle might continue to develop.
“But we also saw it in 2021 with Lewis [Hamilton] and Max [Verstappen]. Mercedes stopped developing and somehow they just finetuned the car and the setup and found massive performance in the second half of the year just by unlocking the setup a little bit more.
“I think naturally, always in the final year of the regs, it comes close. But I still expect McLaren to be running at the forefront.”
George Russell: McLaren favourites for continued success in 2025
McLaren ended a 26-year wait to clinch the constructors’ championship in 2024, with the team finishing 198 points clear of fourth-placed Mercedes.
Despite the anticipated closing of the gaps between teams, Russell maintained that the reigning champions remain the favourites for 2025.
He explained: “When we look at how dominant McLaren was in the second half of last year, without a shadow of a doubt, they are the favourites going into this year.
“When people had their strong weekends, McLaren was always there or thereabouts. I think they had one off weekend in probably the whole of 2024.”
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