#Toto Wolff has declared that his team is "back" but insists that Mercedes has a ...
mellow birch
serene dove
99% chance mercedes is still sandbagging so that the fia doesn't take action to keep the season competitive
i don't think there's going to be a real fight for either championship
woeful patrol
Never count Verstappen out, have you learned nothing from last year
serene dove
what have we learned from last year
that max couldn't pull it off even with lando losing almost 50 points at no fault of his own
woeful patrol
Max posed a genuine challenge to Norris in a slower car
So there's every reason to believe that he would do the same with Russell
Also considering McLaren's R&D team is the most competent on the grid, especially since 2023, they will probably catch up by season's end
woeful patrol
Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri will pose a real challenge later, Leclerc and Hamilton would if Ferrari had their 2024 Strat team instead of the Strat team they have had every other year since 2013
west lake
Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri will pose a real challenge later, Leclerc and Ha...
They won't, Mercedes is too quick
woeful patrol
Have you seen the gains McLaren made in 2023-24 and the comeback Verstappen had in 2025?
west lake
Different regulations
woeful patrol
Seriously, how could Mercedes have made a car so quick that it would take McLaren years to catch up? They have the same engine after all
west lake
We're just started with new regulations, and it's clear as day Mercedes is the fastest, by a good margin
That margin won't be undone within a season
Mercedes went unchallenged for 3 seasons after the 2014 regulations
woeful patrol
But this time McLaren won't switch from Mercedes to Honda, and they have an in house wind tunnel, and their R&D team is the best on the grid
I'm telling you, even though Mercedes will dominate the first three quarters of the season, next year at the very least McLaren will probably have caught up
At least you all will shut up about Max supposedly being a God driver
west lake
Max isn't a "God", but he is the best driver of the current grid
But even so, him challenging George is unlikely
Not impossible, unlikely
We should just hope Kimi gives some competition in the WDC
So that the season isn't boring
west lake
We should just hope Kimi gives some competition in the WDC
Because he has the same car
woeful patrol
I reckon aside from Russell, Antonelli, Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri will get sparse amounts of wins. Maybe Leclerc and Hamilton if Ferrari doesn't shit the bed THAT horribly
west lake
Just because Norris won a WDC and Piastri was on course to win for most of 2025, that doesn't mean they did a good job in their campaigns at all, and neither did McLaren. Russell now has the opportunity they had
And Russell is gonna show how you can win a championship without fumbling and giving hope to your rivals