Despite feeling optimistic going into the 2026 season, George Russell has admitted that the new set of regulations has made even the "straightforward" parts of Formula 1 racing feel complicated.
The Mercedes driver has arrived in Melbourne with a wide smile on his face after a successful stint of testing in Bahrain. The Brackley outfit looked fairly dominant in the running we saw at the Bahrain International Circuit, and the young Briton has made it no secret that he's feeling optimistic as he enters the season as a championship favourite.
"We've had a much better pre-season than we've had over the last four years," he told Motorsport.com and other media. "There's no items on the car that have been of major worry to us. Everything's working as expected. Correlation is good. Simulated correlation is good.
"And they're things that we have failed in over the last four years... Things are working out as we'd hoped."
While Mercedes struggled during the ground effect era, testing is painting a very different picture if the team's machinery is as fast as it looked earlier this month. But despite it beginning the season with confidence, such a substantial change of regulations shouldn't be underestimated. Russell is well aware of the challenges he and his competitors face.
"There's a huge amount [of unknowns]. I think there's a lot of discussions around race starts - a challenging topic. There's a lot of hurdles," he said. "I think you can get tripped up by any small error. So there's no time to relax during a race, during qualifying, pitstops. Things that once were quite straightforward parts of racing are now very complicated.
"However, to this point, I think we've done the most amount of preparation possible. We feel in a good place. However, I'm sure new track things might be different."
What does he think about going into the season as a favourite for a championship win?
"Not a lot, really. Yeah, it doesn't change anything. There's a lot of chat around us - Mercedes - and we take it as a compliment, I guess. However, once the helmet's on and visor's down, you're just flat out. You don't really think about any of this additional noise. You just take it race by race."
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
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Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
Australian GP - Thursday, in photos
