George Russell wants to go 'head-to-head' with Max Verstappen in 2026 F1 title fight

George Russell has said that he is ready to fight for the F1 drivers' championship in 2026 and he wants to go head-to-head with Max Verstappen in particular.

Mercedes have increasingly looked like they may be the team to beat this year following a very successful initial testing session in Barcelona last week.

The Silver Arrows racked up the most mileage compared to their rivals - completing an impressive 502 total laps of running across the 5 day test.

 

However Russell has also moved to temper expectations insisting that it is too early to tell if Mercedes have produced a package this year capable of fighting for the championship.

Despite this, the 5-time Grand Prix winner underpinned his comments insisting that he is very much ready for the title fight himself and he wants to face Max Verstappen.

Speaking to media during Mercedes' official 2026 launch event Russell said: "I feel ready to fight for a World Championship, and whether we have that comment above us or not, that does not change my approach one single bit."

"I do want to go head-to-head with Max and obviously Lando had a great season last year."

"I think probably the fans and people were expecting, you know, to potentially be Mercedes versus McLaren because there was a lot of anticipation that Mercedes would clearly have the best power unit."

"But it seems like the other power unit manufacturers have done a good job and we know that Red Bull have always had an amazing car, even through the years of dominance of Mercedes. It was their engine that was letting them down, not their car."
 

'Too early to say'

The British driver, who will be entering his 6th season with Mercedes this year, signalled on Monday that there were early positive signs with the package but also said that a number of manufacturers this year look promising.

“Well, obviously, we’ve only driven the car for three days,” he said.

“But, quoting Toto [Wolff], it doesn’t look like a turd, which is a bonus. And, to be honest, in the early days like this, you know when it could be a really bad car, and you can sort of highlight those negatives early on.

“We don’t believe it is. But is it a car to produce a world championship? It’s way too early to say."

He added: “There was some talk about the Red Bull power unit not being up to standard year one.

“From what we’ve seen so far, they’ve definitely delivered. Ferrari power unit looks reliable.

“They did lots of laps over the course of the test. Haas did a lot of laps as well with the Ferrari engine.

“The truth is, there could be a good fight on our hands, but we’re satisfied with what we have so far.”