F1 2026: George Russell reveals urgent issue Mercedes must fix before Australian Grand Prix

Mercedes

George Russell reveals urgent issue Mercedes must fix before Australian GP

George Russell and Mercedes are the favourites heading into F1 2026

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 21 February 2026 09:05 Updated: 23:15

Mercedes F1 driver George Russell has revealed the one thing that may just halt Mercedes' title charge in 2026.

Following the regulations overhaul, Mercedes have been tipped for most of the pre-season to be the team to beat in 2026, with the team believed to have found a trick within their new power unit which allows for them to run at the previously allowed geometric compression ratio.

This trick, which will be voted upon by all of the power unit manufacturers and may be outlawed by August 2026, could be worth up to 0.3 seconds per lap.

Article continues under video

On top of this, Mercedes' new power unit looks extremely reliable, with the Brackley outfit suffering barely any problems during the nine days of allowed pre-season testing, and getting in masses of laps.

But ahead of the season, British racer Russell has revealed the one area of concern for the team following this week's final pre-season testing event.

F1 drivers seem to be struggling to get off the line when completing their practice starts at the Bahrain International Circuit, with the starting procedure not proving to be optimal for the new turbos.

The only team who seem to have mastered the starts are Ferrari, with their SF-26 and their customer team Haas having flying starts at the circuit.

Russell views this as a huge concern for Mercedes ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 8, and expressed his fears in a press conference at the circuit.

"To win a race you also have to get off the line quite well and I think the two starts I've made this week were worse than my worst ever start in F1 so you know," Russell told media at Bahrain pre-season testing.

"Lewis down in P11 got into P1 so at this stage, it doesn’t matter how quick you are, the thing that's going to trip you up is that tallest hurdle. So that’s what we’re trying to get our heads around, and we're stumbling on some at the moment."

Will Mercedes be fighting for the title in 2026?

Other than about starts, the noise coming out of Mercedes in recent weeks has been very positive, and both Russell and Kimi Antonelli may well be facing the prospect of a championship battle in 2026.

But Russell and team boss Toto Wolff have been trying their best to deflect the attention away from their team and onto Red Bull, who have also been strong in pre-season testing.

Ferrari have been the fastest team of all during the second week of testing, while world champions McLaren are bound to also be in the fight for race victories.

It remains to be seen which teams are in the hunt for the title, but the competitive order at the Australian GP next month may well be different to what it is in a few months' time, as the teams all get used to the new regulations at different rates.

F1 2026 DRIVER LINEUP: F1 grid SET as Red Bull complete driver jigsaw puzzle

F1 Mercedes George Russell Australian Grand Prix pre-season testing