Russell swipes back at Norris F1 rules criticism with ‘selfish’ claim

George Russell has hit back at Lando Norris’s damning criticism of Formula 1’s new generation of cars and believes he wouldn’t be complaining if he was winning.

After qualifying sixth for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, reigning world champion Norris claimed F1 had traded “the best cars ever” to “probably worst” with the much-changed 2026 regulations.

Russell headed a Mercedes one-two after an early dice with Ferrari to win the first race of the new F1 era in Melbourne as Norris finished fifth, the best part of a minute down in his McLaren.

The 28-year-old Briton suggested fellow countryman Norris would not be so critical if he was at the front.

Asked if he views Norris’s comments as being ‘sour grapes’ because McLaren aren’t as competitive, Russell replied: “If he was winning I don’t think he’d be saying the same.

“We weren’t happy with how stiff the cars were last year and the porpoising. Everyone had a bad back and the drivers were complaining about that and the McLaren drivers said they had no porpoising, even though we watched their car and they were porpoising.

“So everyone is always looking to themselves and we are all selfish in this regard. The truth is last year we had the same engine as them and McLaren did a better job than us and they beat us.

“Now McLaren have got the same engine as us, the same as Williams and the same as Alpine, and so far we’ve done a better job than them. That’s just how the game goes.”

F1’s new era got off to a spectacular start as Russell and Charles Leclerc engaged in a close fight battle and exchanged the lead multiple times in the first 10 laps before Ferrari’s decision not to pit during an early virtual safety car effectively took it out of victory contention.

Russell feels some drivers have been too quick to judge the new regulations and cars, with Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen leading the public bashing in recent weeks.

“We’re 22 drivers, when we’ve had the least cars with the least tyre degradation and when we’ve been happiest, everyone moans the racing is boring,” he said.

“Now the drivers aren’t perfectly happy and everyone says it is an amazing race. You can’t have it all, so I think we should give it a chance and see after a few more races.”