George Russell calls on Mercedes to be “realistic” about repeating Las Vegas F1 win

George Russell doesn’t think Mercedes’ dominant pace in Las Vegas last year makes them the favourites for this weekend’s race.

Mercedes stormed to a 1-2 finish at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, with Russell winning ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Russell controlled the race from pole position, defending from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to claim his second victory of the year. 

Hamilton showed outstanding race pace to finish second, having started down in 10th.

The cooler track conditions, combined with the low-downforce layout, played into the strengths of last year’s Mercedes. 

These traits have remained, with Russell winning the Canadian Grand Prix from pole. He was also strong in Baku, finishing second to Max Verstappen.

Despite this, Russell has called on Mercedes to be “realistic” about repeating their Vegas victory from last year.

Speaking in the FIA press conference, Russell expects that Red Bull will likely pose a serious threat.

“Last year was a great race for us,” Russell said. “The car definitely performed very well in these cooler conditions but we’ve also got to be realistic that success a year ago doesn’t mean you’re going to have success a year later.

“We won in Singapore this year and had a terrible race in Singapore in 2024. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same this weekend. I think the likes of Red Bull have made big improvements with their low-downforce setup as well. They won at Monza, they won in Baku. I expect them to be strong too.”

Russell downplays Vegas chances

Russell feels this year’s Mercedes is more of an all-rounder, performing consistently across a number of circuits. 

As a result, Mercedes sit second in the constructors’ championship with three rounds to go, ahead of Ferrari and Red Bull.

Given their car is more rounded, Russell thinks it’s less likely they will be victorious at “outlier” events such as Las Vegas.

“Everybody’s objective is to make the car strong over the course of a 24-race season and last year we had a car that was exceptionally good in those cooler conditions,” he added.

“I think that’s why as a team we had more victories but we were further away in the championship. We finished fourth last year and we’re fighting for second this year. We have a car that is stronger across a range of circuits but it does mean we might not be potentially as competitive in these outlier circuits.”