Russell picks his favourite for the drivers’ title as Norris vs Verstappen battle heats up

George Russell has picked Lando Norris as his “favourite” to win the 2024 drivers’ title, believing the McLaren driver and his “fastest car” have a clear advantage over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen heading into the penultimate triple-header sequence.

Norris arrives at the United States Grand Prix looking to make further inroads into Verstappen’s championship lead, having closed the gap to 52 points with an emphatic victory last time out on the streets of Singapore.

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Given McLaren’s consistently strong form so far, and Red Bull’s relative mid-season struggles, Russell reckons the odds are in Norris’s favour across the final six rounds – where 180 points will be up for grabs.

Asked who is in the better position, Russell smiled: “Well, Max is leading, so he’s definitely in the better position! But Lando’s got the fastest car right now…

“I think Lando can absolutely win this championship and I would probably say he’s favourite to do so with their form right now comparing with Red Bull.

“It’s going to be exciting from the neutral [perspective]. From my side, it doesn’t really change anything. I’ll watch with intrigue, but we need to try and get in that fight somehow.”

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Mercedes will be aiming to get in that fight with a “substantial” upgrade package for this weekend’s Sprint event at the Circuit of The Americas, with Russell hopeful of making some solid gains.

“We’re definitely excited to get back racing,” he said. “We do have this upgrade this weekend. We’ve still been running on the same floor that we ran in Montreal 10 races or so ago, so I’m hoping this will be a step.”

Pushed on Mercedes’s chances for the remainder of the season, Russell added: “I think at the moment McLaren are without doubt the most dominant team.

“Arguably they could have won every race since as long as I can remember really – they’ve definitely had the car to do so.

“We’ve just got to keep putting ourself in a position to capitalise when people make errors, and I think we can still fight for the top four positions on the grid, fight for that podium.

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“If Max and Lando come together, we can maybe sneak a win! At the moment, we are still that step behind.”

Mercedes, having won in Austria, Britain and Belgium, sit fourth in the constructors’ standings on 329 points, behind Ferrari on 441, Red Bull on 475 and McLaren on 516.