LANDO NORRIS NOTES MERCEDES ‘BIG ADVANTAGE’ AS GEORGE RUSSELL TAKES SPRINT POLE

Lando Norris has claimed George Russell holds a greater advantage than the one he had during his world championship winning campaign.

Russell carried over his sparkling form from Australia to secure a crushing pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The British driver finished 0.289 seconds clear of team-mate Kimi Antonelli in a one-sided qualifying session as Mercedes ominously locked out the front row in Shanghai.

Behind the all-conquering Silver Arrows, will be Norris, albeit 0.621 seconds adrift.

At this event last year, Russell goaded Norris by claiming his McLaren was quick enough to win every race.

In the end, McLaren won 14 of the 24 rounds staged with Norris seeing off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the finale to land his maiden world crown.

“I know how everyone talks about how big our gap was last year, but we certainly didn’t get close to winning every race,” said Norris, who crossed the line only eight tenths clear of Verstappen in the first race in Melbourne 12 months ago. Last Sunday, Russell lapped the entire field up to sixth.

And Norris added: “Mercedes were certainly a lot closer to us than we currently are to them.

“They have a big advantage over everyone but that is because they have worked hard and they deserve to be in the position they are in.

“You would expect Mercedes to dominate for a while. We will do our best to change that.”

Speaking ahead of the new season, Norris let slip that Russell was giddy at the prospect of dethroning him such was Mercedes expected superiority.

Mercedes have mastered the new regulations, and they appear unstoppable. Russell is also projecting no signs of the pressure associated with being the title favourite.

Asked if he is disappointed the new rules may prevent him a genuine shot at defending his crown, Norris replied: “No, that’s life. Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. That is the way it has always been.

“I am sure I would be happier if I was fighting at the front and confident we could win a race. But I accept we are in the position we are in because we have not built a car that is quite quick enough at the minute. We need to work hard to catch up.

“I have never said I am ruling myself out (of the title race). I have said the opposite. It is a long season, and I hope we can catch up. It is still early days.”

Lewis Hamilton won the sprint race in China for Ferrari a year ago – the sole highlight of a bitterly disappointing first season in red – and he will start Saturday’s 19-lap dash to the flag from fourth.

He will be the meat in a McLaren sandwich, with Oscar Piastri fifth on the grid. Charles Leclerc lines up in sixth, a full second off the pace.

Max Verstappen has already expressed his deep disdain for the new regulations, and his latest display is unlikely to allay those negative thoughts.

He finished eighth here, an eye-watering 1.7 seconds down. “This is undriveable,” said Verstappen as he drove his Red Bull back to the pits. “We have never had anything this bad.”