Russell delivers Mercedes 'building' challenge as title window looms

George Russell believes the final 10 rounds of the F1 season will be about "building up towards 2025" now that Mercedes has a race-winning car again.

The 26-year-old feels that on current form, there is "no reason" why the Brackley-based team cannot be in the championship conversations next season.

With three grand prix victories in the previous four rounds, Mercedes is the in-form team in F1, despite an underwhelming start to the campaign for the German marque.

Now, following its turnaround in fortunes, Mercedes heads into the second part of the year looking to further add to its momentum - a prospect Russell is relishing.

"Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely," he replied to media including RacingNews365 when asked the rest of 2024 was about providing a foundation for title challenges next year.

"I think for all of us, It's been a difficult couple of years getting the car into a place where we can consistently fight for victories. 

"But, I'm so motivated, so excited for the second half of the season, which is ultimately building up towards 2025, and when you look at the competition now, there's no reason why we can't fight."

Mercedes began 2024 on the back foot. Having narrowly beaten Ferrari to second in the constructors' standings last year, the team found itself with the fourth-fastest car over the opening few rounds of the year.

That regression was further exacerbated when McLaren and Ferrari successfully ported considerable upgrades to their cars at the Miami and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, respectively.

However, starting in Monaco, Mercedes' consistent, continuous development approach thrust the team into race-winning contention by the time F1 got to Canada.

It had to wait two more rounds before finally taking its first victory since the back-end of 2022 and just its second grand prix win since the current ground-effects regulations were introduced.

Whilst Russell was the beneficiary of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen's collision in Austria, Lewis Hamilton won at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps on merit - even if his team-mate's disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix did mean it was inherited.

"If the season started in Montreal, the championship standings would be looking very, very different, so it's going to be great," Russell contended.

"There's so much motivation from all the other teams to get back to the front, from McLaren, from Ferrari, from ourselves. So for sure, it's not going to be easy, and hopefully we see a good fight on our hands into next year."