Is Russell ready to win a title? - F1 Season Preview (Part 1)
The Race F1 Podcast
The Race Media Ltd
4.5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 March 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
George Russell heads into the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as world championship favourite. But are he and Mercedes really up to the challenge, and will it be Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc or someone else who emerges as his main rival?
In the first episode of our two-part F1 2026 season preview, Edd Straw is joined by Ben Anderson and Glenn Freeman to look at the drivers who should be vying for race wins, the dark horses who could surprise, those with something to prove, and those heading into the season under maximum pressure to perform.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic |
| 0:02.7 | The Race is on, and George Russell is on, |
| 0:13.5 | and George Russell heads into the Australian Grand Prix as World Championship favourite, |
| 0:17.5 | but are he and Mercedes really up to the challenge? |
| 0:19.9 | And will it be Lando Norris, |
| 0:21.2 | Max Rastappan, Charlotte Clerk, or someone else who emerges as his main rival? I'm Ed Straw and |
| 0:26.0 | joining me for the first episode of our two-part 2026 season preview are Glenn Freeman and |
| 0:31.1 | Ben Anderson. Right, Glenn, when we rank the teams after testing, we have the top four, |
| 0:38.2 | still the big four, |
| 0:43.7 | in reverse order, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes. So that means George Russell is championship favourite. Probably as far as we're concerned. The bookmakers certainly have him |
| 0:47.6 | as favourite. Do you agree? Yeah, I think so. What I'm pleased about from what you've seen at |
| 0:54.1 | testing is that I don't think |
| 0:56.3 | this is going to be another 2014 situation. Yes, Mercedes are the favourite. Yes, there's been an engine |
| 1:02.6 | regulations change. But I think if Mercedes and Russell win this championship, it's not going to be |
| 1:07.9 | done in the style of the early hybrid years. |
| 1:11.1 | So I think we're going to be in for an interesting championship. |
| 1:13.9 | I don't think we're going to have a walkover. |
| 1:16.2 | But, yeah, I can see why people are saying Russell's favourite. |
| 1:19.0 | You like being contrarian, Ben. |
| 1:20.4 | That would make for good listening. |
| 1:22.9 | Who's you got? |
| 1:23.5 | What gave you that idea? |
... |
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