F1 star George Russell to race without cooling vest at Bahrain GP amid Mercedes cost cap dilemma

Russell screwing up his face on the F1 grid at Miami in bright purple race suit — Photo: © IMAGO

Bahrain Grand Prix

The bizarre reason F1 star George Russell will race in a 60C ‘oven’ at Bahrain Grand Prix

George is going to be HOT on Sunday

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Friday 2 October 2026 18:45

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Mercedes star George Russell will be forced to drive in a 60C 'oven' at Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix as his team wrestle with an F1 cost cap dilemma.

The 28-year-old British star will be unable to wear the cooling vest now utilised by so many drivers to contend with brutal temperatures during Grand Prix races.

This year's Bahrain event is taking place in Sepang, Malaysia on Sunday after being moved from its original location due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

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Temperatures are expected to soar with the FIA already having declared the event an official heat hazard, and Russell will feel every degree with Mercedes deciding to channel their resources elsewhere due to F1's stringent cost cap regulations.

If the air and track temperature is not brutal enough, the heat inside Russell's Mercedes cockpit is expected to reach 60C.

Russell prepared for sweaty Sunday in Sepang

He told media including the Daily Mail: ‘I was sweating sitting on the beach in my shorts and flip-flops. Let alone with fireproof underwear, suit and helmet. It will be like sitting in an oven.

"I would like to wear the cooling vest this week, and I would like to wear it next week (in Singapore).

"But the team asked me, 'Look, we can develop it, and we can put the money towards it but at a cost when we are trying to develop the car within the budget cap.'"

F1 teams all must operate within a strict budget of $215million in 2026 to stay under the cost cap, but not everything counts against it. Driver salaries for example are exempt.

Cooling vest should sit outside cost cap - Russell

Russell believes developing cooling vests should also sit outside the cap, explaining: "We should all be wearing the vest. When it works, it works great. The FIA should step in and allow us to develop it outside the budget cap."

Russell knows just how it feels when searing heat takes over the cockpit - he suffered dehydration and lost several pounds in weight during the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.

He said: "I think my problems there were more the shock from going into the ice bath, going from extreme heat to extreme cold. So perhaps I have learned from that and will be OK."

The move by Mercedes illustrates the tough decisions team are forced to make under the constraints of the cap. Earlier this season their team principal Toto Wolff had admitted the team did not have the cash for major upgrades to their car.

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