McLaren so fast they can focus on 2026 - Russell

McLaren are so fast they can already switch their attention to next year's car, Mercedes driver George Russell said on Saturday after the reigning champions locked out the front row in Australian Grand Prix qualifying.

Britain's Lando Norris, established already as the bookmakers' favourite for the title before securing the first pole of the season, has local hero and teammate Oscar Piastri alongside on the front row for Sunday's race.

"They're in such an advantage because they can stop development now and go fully on '26 and it's difficult to overcome that gap," Russell told reporters at Melbourne's Albert Park.

"If you've got a six-tenth advantage at the start of the year, nobody finds six tenths throughout the year. So, McLaren is in prime position for now and the future.

"Tomorrow is anybody's game, as it always is in the rain, but if it was dry I expect that gap from McLaren to probably increase in race pace."

The forecast for Sunday is wet and the McLarens have Red Bull's four-time world champion Max Verstappen right behind in third place, albeit 0.485 seconds off pole, with Russell fourth and sixth tenths off.

"I don’t expect miracles but I think it’s okay," said Verstappen of his car's long-run pace. "Not on the same level (as McLaren) but I’ll just do my best and see what happens tomorrow."

'BIGGEST CHALLENGE'

Piastri and Norris both said they were surprised Ferrari had not been quicker, with Charles Leclerc qualifying seventh and Lewis Hamilton eighth.

"Going into qualifying, we expected Ferrari to be our biggest challenge," said Piastri.

"Maybe we just took more sandbags out than everyone else. I don’t know. I was pleasantly surprised by the pace we had in qualifying.

"Obviously, the headline now is probably going to be 'McLaren is by far the quickest' but I think it will change a lot over the next few races... It’s going to be a good fight. I expect Ferrari to be fast and competitive through the year. "