George Russell insists he is desperate to go “head-to-head” with arch rival Max Verstappen ahead of the 2026 F1 season.

Mercedes driver Russell is the pre-season favourite for the world championship this year, with the Silver Arrows thought to be the early frontrunners amid a massive regulation shake-up this year.

Red Bull’s Verstappen, meanwhile, fell just two points short of a fifth consecutive title last year as McLaren’s Lando Norris won his first championship. Yet Russell, who had a massive feud with Verstappen at the end of the 2024 season, is adamant he is ready to fight for a world championship, while playing down Mercedes’ tag as favourites.

“I want to go head-to-head with Max,” Russell said, speaking at Mercedes’ 2026 car launch on Monday. “I think the fans are probably expecting for this year to be Mercedes vs McLaren, there’s a lot of anticipation.

“But it seems that the other power units have done a good job, Red Bull have always had an amazing car and we know how good Max is.

“I think he’s very much going to be in the fight this year. You obviously wish you have an easier time, but it should never be easy. If you’re going to win, you want to have fought for it on track.

“I’ve been surprised by our rivals. Red Bull on the power unit side has been very impressive, kudos to them. We’ve had a very reliable test [last week], but we’ll have to wait and see if the car lives up to expectations.”

British racer Russell, heading into his fifth season with Mercedes, insisted he doesn’t feel any extra pressure given the early ‘favourite’ tag, but did lavish praise on Aston Martin after last week’s pre-season test in Barcelona.

Russell added: “We’ve only driven the car for three days [in Barcelona last week], quoting Toto, it doesn’t look like a turd!

George Russell is the early championship favourite (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)

“Is it a car that can produce a world championship? It’s still too early to see. [Favourite tag] doesn’t make me feel anything. I feel ready to fight for a world championship, but we want to reel in expectations.

“The best case scenario is a number of different drivers and teams all battling it out. Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari - four teams are all quite close, but you can’t discount what you’ve seen from Aston Martin, what Adrian [Newey] has done looks quite spectacular.

“Honda have had a very good engine with Red Bull, we know what they’re capable of. It would be awesome to see a big fight.”

Russell will be leading the team alongside teenager Kimi Antonelli for the second consecutive year, after Lewis Hamilton left the team in 2024.

The next pre-season test is in Bahrain on 11-13 February, with the new season starting with the Australian Grand Prix on 8 March.