“We’ve got to give it time”

Mercedes Formula 1 driver George Russell says it is too early to judge F1’s new generation of cars amid criticism of how they are to drive.

At Bahrain’s first three-day test, F1 drivers were finally able to sample the much-discussed 2026 generation of cars in representative conditions, with a lot of focus going towards optimising the ambitious hybrid energy rules.

Cars derive half of their power output from an electric motor, but because they easily drain their battery over the course of a lap, drivers are having to develop various novel driving techniques and explore software settings to harvest that energy in the corners. That includes unusual behaviour like excessive lifting and coasting on the straights, and maintaining high revs on low-speed corners to recover energy.

Not every driver is a fan of how carefully these cars need to be managed, with Max Verstappen slating the new rules as “anti-racing” and “Formula E on steroids”.

But Russell feels it is still too early to judge the new ruleset because teams are set for a steep development curve, and he enjoyed the fact cars are lighter, smaller and more nimble this year.

“I do think it’s a step forward and I always like to give things a chance,” Russell said. “We’re four days into a set of regulations that’s going to be over three years long and the progress everyone’s going to make in these early months is going to be massive.

“The cars are way nicer to drive. I’ve only ever driven the smaller generation of F1 cars twice and I couldn’t believe the difference of how much more agile the car feels being lighter, smaller. So, that’s very positive.

“The engines are very complicated and to be honest, it’s probably causing more of a pain for all of the engineers than it is for the drivers. However, these two tracks, Barcelona and Bahrain, are arguably two of the easiest circuits for the engine. So, I don’t want to say anything too early before we get to the likes of Melbourne or Jeddah, because it will be much more challenging for the engines and the energy once we get there.”

Russell did point out that having to use lower revs than usual is causing some unwanted driving characteristics and instability that he isn’t a big fan of.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images

“The one challenge that we’re faced with is using very low gears in the corners,” he explained. “Here in Bahrain, usually the first corner is a third-gear corner. Now we’re having to use first gear to keep the engine revs very high to keep the turbo spinning. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a handbrake when you’re having to go down the gears.

“This is probably the one thing that is quite annoying and isn’t that intuitive. But for the rest, you can’t argue with the amount of power you have when you get the full 350kW. But I also think it’s going to progress a huge amount in the coming months, so we’ve got to give it time.”

While Russell’s rival, reigning world champion Lando Norris, felt drivers are paid too much money to be complaining about their cars. Russell is taking a pragmatic approach, taking the bigger picture in consideration of why the 2026 were conceived in the first place: ensuring the likes of Audi and Honda were interested in developing a power unit.

“As with anything in life, you can’t tick every single box,” he added. “And there’s more at stake. When these regulations came into play, there was obviously a huge push on EVs from the EU, and that was a big part for the likes of Audi to come in. So that’s got to be a consideration.

“And I think nobody can argue that Formula 1 is in an amazing place currently. Of course, we want the best cars, the fastest cars, the best racing. But I don’t know how you please everybody.

“As Lando said, we’re privileged to be in this position. And in all honesty, I just want to win. I guess for a driver who’s won quite a bit recently, you do just want to have the best car and the most fun cars to drive. So, yeah, [Verstappen is] welcome to go to the Nordschleife, I guess.”

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– The Autosport.com Team