The 25-year-old Formula 1 ace has weighed in on McLaren's advantage after they comfortably had the fastest car in his Australia Grand Prix win over the weekend, while Russell - who finished third for Mercedes - insisted McLaren could turn their focus to next season's car.

Speaking in a press conference, Norris said: "Let's see. Max was three-tenths off yesterday. Last year, we were much further off and ended up with the best car by the end of the season.

"We were over half a second off at the beginning of last year behind Red Bull and ended up with the quickest car.

"I know George made some comments earlier this weekend that we can just turn our focus to 2026. If that's their mentality, wonderful, but that's not the mentality to have. Sorry, mate."

Norris insisted McLaren are focused on "this year's car", and that taking their eye off the ball would spell disaster.

He added: "We know we still have a lot of work to do on this year's car. If you relax in this position, you fail.

"In Formula 1, if you start thinking things are good and groovy, that's when you get caught."

Norris did concede that his team are "favourites", but he doesn't expect it to be smooth sailing throughout the campaign.

He said: "I do think we're favourites because the team has done an amazing job, and the car is flying. But we will have races where we struggle.

"If we started the season in Bahrain, I don't think we would have won, and you wouldn't be asking me this question.

"Let's allow a few more races to take place before making any obvious statements."