Lando Norris has questioned rival George Russell's "mentality" amid their ongoing debate about McLaren's advantage over the rest of the Formula One field.

Norris comfortably led McLaren to victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last Sunday, claiming the fifth win of his career in a chaotic race at the Albert Park Circuit. 

Indeed, the 25-year-old became only the second British driver in F1 history to take pole position and win the first race of the year for McLaren after Lewis Hamilton in 2008. 

Norris also strung together back-to-back races with a pole position and victory for the first time in his career, having done so at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of last year. 

Russell, who finished on the podium for Mercedes in Australia, suggested that, after Norris led a one-two from team-mate Oscar Piastri in qualifying, that McLaren could already start to think about next season because of the pace of their car. 

Norris was asked whether his strong performance in Melbourne had made him a clear favourite for the world championship.

"Let's see. Max was three-tenths off yesterday. Last year, we were much further off and ended up with the best car by the end of the season," Norris said.

"We were over half a second off at the beginning of last year behind Red Bull and ended up with the quickest car.

"I know George made some comments earlier that we could just turn our focus to 2026. If that's their mentality, wonderful, but that's not the mentality to have. Sorry, mate.

"We know we still have a lot of work to do on this year's car. If you relax in this position, you fail. In Formula 1, if you start thinking things are good, that's when you get caught.

"I do think we're favourites because the team has done an amazing job, and the car is flying. But we will have races where we struggle.

"If we started the season in Bahrain, I don't think we would have won, and you wouldn't be asking me this question.

"Let's allow a few more races to take place before making any obvious statements."

We'll leave this one here.

It sure was a g'day, Melbs pic.twitter.com/FvL2TRUelu

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 16, 2025

Norris kickstarted the season as he meant to go on, leading from reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who beat him to the drivers' championship last year. 

But Norris, along with Piastri, helped deliver McLaren's first constructors' title since 1988 after consistently scoring points last season despite a slow start in 2024. 

And the Briton believes that will be an advantage this year, with both Mercedes and Red Bull starting the campaign with different driver line-ups than last year. 

Liam Lawson, who failed to finish in Australia, replaced Sergio Perez at Red Bull, while 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli was drafted in to fill the shoes of seven-time world champion Hamilton at Mercedes. 

"We are the team to beat, mainly because we have two drivers up there pushing each other. That helps," Norris added. 

"Do I think me and Oscar pushing each other in qualifying yesterday allowed us to get one and a half, one tenth more than the two drivers here because their team-mates aren't as equipped or experienced? Yes, so add that into the equation as well.

"It's not just about the car. The team has done an amazing job, and I thank them for everything they're doing. But we know we can make it better, and that's our aim."