Russell defends scrutinised Mercedes: 'Ferrari still not fighting for the championship'

"If I'm being honest, I think there's been a lot of scrutiny upon Mercedes in these three years. I think everybody's had some challenges along the way," he said. "If you take Red Bull out of the equation, they've found themselves on a great path. But we've all found ourselves in a patch-up mode."

With Red Bull's new-found domination in recent years, Mercedes have often found themselves battling against Ferrari. In 2022, it was Ferrari who finished second, but the roles were reversed in 2023, when Mercedes beat the Italian team by just three points. "We were battling with Ferrari. Ferrari were well ahead of us in 2022. They fell behind us in 2023. And now they're just ahead, but they're still not fighting for the championship right now. McLaren had a tough couple of years, now they're back at the front where they were 15 years ago."

'This is Formula 1'

As Russell argues, Mercedes aren't the only team to have faced challenges, hence he doesn't understand the high level of scrutiny against them. Nevertheless, he now looks ahead to the next few years, particularly 2026. The new regulations were announced on Thursday 6 June. "This is Formula 1, it's bloody challenging, and there are so many great teams and designers down this field. I think we are making progress, and it just never happens overnight," the Brit said. 

"I think that's just the sport, and I hope in 2026 it's not as variable because as drivers, you want kind of an equal opportunity to showcase your abilities and battle it out on track," Russell concluded.