George Russell plots 'team to beat' target in bold Monza prediction

George Russell believes there could be a four-way battle for victory at the Italian Grand Prix and refused to accept Mercedes as favourites for the weekend at Monza.

The seven-time grand prix winner also feels that the Brackley-based squad can return to the top of the pecking order in the coming rounds.

The W17 has been the benchmark chassis for much of the F1 season, but Lando Norris and McLaren have seized the initiative with back-to-back victories in Hungary and Zandvoort.

Russell, who scored a sprint win and a third-place finish in the Netherlands, is under no illusions about where the competitive picture currently stands.

"When you look at the past couple of races and how competitive Lando and McLaren have been, it's definitely very fair to say that they are the team to beat right now," Russell told media, including RacingNews365.

The British driver conceded that Mercedes is currently an upgrade behind its rivals, but expressed confidence in the team's underlying chassis performance, with the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia thought to be the likely point at which the team introduces further developments.

"We know we're an upgrade behind most, and we hope we can go back to being the team to beat in a couple of races' time," he said. "But for now, the fight is with McLaren. Ferrari has got the upgrades this weekend..."

A four-team race at Monza

The Scuderia will roll out a significant development package at Monza, including a revised floor, an updated version of its 'Macarena' rear wing, a new front wing and the second ADUO power-unit specification, which is estimated to deliver around 15 horsepower.

Despite the challenge from McLaren and Ferrari, Russell drew attention to his own team's strong weekend at Zandvoort, where Mercedes took a double podium in the race alongside his sprint victory.

"I actually think we came away from Zandvoort having a very positive weekend as a team, and I think a P2 and a P3 and a sprint win was actually probably better than the car's true performance," he added.

Red Bull, too, is expected to thrive at the power-sensitive Temple of Speed, with the RB22's strong power unit and low-drag efficiency well suited to Monza's long straights. Russell acknowledged as much, while stopping short of naming any single team as the outright favourite.

"I don't know if we can say we're favourites this weekend, but we definitely probably have a greater opportunity than we've had in the last two races, where it's been less about the power unit and more about the chassis," he said.

"And, as I said, I think we definitely have had the best chassis, and I think we'll do again in the upcoming races.

"We can't forget Red Bull has a very strong power unit as well. We know this circuit is going to suit them more than the others.

"Ferrari [is] with the upgrade, so I think it can be a four-team race this weekend. It's so close right now that last tenth in qualifying can be the difference between a couple of positions, which can change the podium. So yeah, right now I don't know who is going to be the team to beat."