Mercedes’ George Russell is currently the bookmakers’ favorite for the 2026 F1 world title, yet the Briton isn't measuring for a suit at the FIA gala just yet.
In the wake of last week’s shakedown test in Barcelona, the Briton believes that Mercedes have produced a car capable of challenging at the sharp end – but bagging the title is another question altogether.
With a brand-new set of technical regulations reshaping both chassis and power units, predicting the pecking order has become an exercise in speculation.
Yet Mercedes’ strong showing at the Circuit de Catalunya, where the team completed the most mileage of any outfit and even ran a full race simulation, has sparked early excitement.
Early Impressions: Promising, But Not Definitive
Speaking at the official Mercedes 2026 launch on Monday, Russell admitted it is still early days but was pleased by the team’s initial findings.
“Obviously we've only driven the car for three days and it's still very early days, but it doesn't look like it's a turd, which is a bonus,” said the five-time Grand Prix winner.
“To be honest, in the early days like this, you know when it could be a really bad car and you can highlight those negatives early on, we don't believe it is. But is it a car that can produce a world championship? It's still way too early to see.”
©Mercedes
Despite the early confidence, Russell is mindful of rival teams, particularly Red Bull, whose new power unit impressed during testing.
“We've been quite surprised by what we've seen from some of our rivals, especially on the Red Bull power unit side, that looks very impressive considering they're a completely new outfit and reliable as well,” he added.
So kudos to them. We've had a very reliable test, but we'll have to wait and see if the car lives up to the expectation.”
The caution echoes Mercedes’ 2022 struggles when ground-effect cars arrived, with porpoising issues and an unpredictable W13 preventing the team from competing consistently at the top.
A Drivable, Predictable Package
Russell believes the W17 is a step in the right direction, with a car that behaves as engineers anticipated.
“Nobody expected porpoising in ‘22. So you can’t discount everything right now. But that's why I think we left Barcelona with a positive feeling because the car reacted as we anticipated,” he explained.
“The numbers we're seeing from the aero on the car match what we see back on the simulator, how the car is handling is matching how it feels on the simulator. So this is something we've not really experienced since 2021 as a team.
“So we're sort of ticking the boxes of everything that we want to tick. But we can't discount our rivals because, as I said, there was a lot of talk around the Red Bull power unit not being up to standard year one - from what we've seen so far, they've definitely delivered.
“Ferrari power unit looks reliable. They did lots of laps not far behind us over the course of a test and from a power unit side, Haas did loads of laps as well with the Ferrari engine.
“So the truth is that there could be a good fight on our hands, but we're satisfied with what we've experienced.”
While Mercedes has reason to be buoyed by reliability and performance indicators, Russell still hedges any predictions about the championship battle.
Confidence Without Complacency
When asked about being labeled a title favourite, the Briton downplayed the significance but acknowledged his readiness.
“I didn't really feel anything from hearing that, to be honest,” he said.
“As I've said for a long time, I feel ready to fight for a world championship and whether we have that comment above us or not, that does not change my approach one single bit.
“I'm working so hard with the team. Everybody here has been working flat out to really maximise this new set of regulations and I'm honestly just so excited by the challenge because it is a huge challenge adapting to these new cars, how the energy management works, the re-harvesting of the batteries, getting your head around the boost system, the overtake modes, the active aero.
“There's a lot of things we need to learn very quickly, but I feel I can take advantage from that and I feel confident with myself and my team.”
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