{"id":39271,"date":"2026-03-09T04:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T08:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=39271"},"modified":"2026-03-09T04:13:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T08:13:55","slug":"george-russell-drivers-wouldnt-complain-if-they-were-winning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2026\/03\/09\/george-russell-drivers-wouldnt-complain-if-they-were-winning\/","title":{"rendered":"George Russell: Drivers wouldn’t complain if they were winning"},"content":{"rendered":"

George Russell converted a commanding Pole Position into his first victory of the season in Australia, living up to the pre-season expectations about the Mercedes<\/a>\u00a0package.<\/p>\n

Having spent months downplaying their pace, Mercedes eventually showed their hand at Albert Park. For rivals, the supremacy of the W18 vindicates their assessments and warnings from the winter break.<\/p>\n

Whilst Ferrari put up an admirable fight on race day, concerns about Mercedes dominance persist. In combination with a generation of cars that drivers seem unhappy with, there is an influx of negative sentiment in Formula 1.<\/p>\n

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Championship leader George Russell<\/a> does not share this perspective. Speaking post-race, the Mercedes driver responded to some of the criticisms from his competitors about the 2026 regulations.<\/p>\n

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Drivers clash with latest generation of F1 machines<\/h2>\n

Many drivers have voiced their dissatisfaction with the 2026 cars. To be clear, this is by no means a new or unique phenomenon.<\/p>\n

The 2022 regulations, which are now being described in a much more positive light, were also criticised for their handling characteristics at the beginning of that regulatory cycle.<\/p>\n

This sentiment only intensified when Red Bull<\/a> and Verstappen dominated in 2023. Only after a series of more dynamic title fights in 2024 and 2025 did the narrative on ground-effect cars begin to shift.<\/p>\n

Focusing on this year’s cars, the consensus across the field is they are a downgrade on their predecessors. Drivers frequently point to the battery harvesting (and subsequent loss of power on the straights) as the main problem.<\/p>\n

Lando Norris<\/a> articulated his main points of objection last weekend:<\/p>\n

“Straight line mode means you’ve got a lot of other issues at hand. <\/em><\/p>\n

“You decelerate so much before corners, you have to lift everywhere to make sure the [battery] pack’s at the top.<\/em><\/p>\n

“If the pack is too high, you’re also screwed. We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1 and the nicest to drive to probably the worst. It sucks.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Similar feelings are shared across the field. Carlos Sainz<\/a> and Oliver Bearman<\/a> are some of many drivers to become more explicit in their frustration with these 2026 machines.<\/p>\n

To some extent, the current wave of opposition is not a surprise. During pre-season testing, the likes of Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso all issued warnings.<\/p>\n

Of course, perhaps more important than the driving experience is the sporting value provided to the fans. In this sense, the Australian GP offered some hope for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n

Ferrari joined Mercedes at the front, with Russell and Leclerc<\/a> swapping positions in a series of intense wheel-to-wheel confrontations in the opening stages.<\/p>\n

With the elimination of DRS and introduction of active aerodynamics, drivers are constantly in a process of either harvesting or deploying energy.<\/p>\n

Whilst this is unusual and – in the eyes of some – potentially gimmicky, it does provide chances for overtaking. In this sense, there remains some potential for these regulations to produce entertaining battles across the field.<\/p>\n

At least, this is the narrative George Russell, Mercedes and other stakeholders will argue in favour of.<\/p>\n

In recent days, Russell has been questioned about his thoughts on the 2026 regulations and whether they are viable… (continues on next page)<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Russell responds to criticisms of rivals<\/h4>\n

The best-case scenario for F1 would an entertaining race in China this weekend – both in terms of quality of overtaking and a competitive battle for victory.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, a three-way battle between Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull in China would quickly create a more positive feeling about these regulations. Given Verstappen’s race pace<\/a> in Australia, there is a plausible scenario where he joins Ferrari and Mercedes in a dynamic fight at the front.<\/p>\n

At the same time, some speculate that Mercedes still have more pace in reserve. Even after qualifying and race day, Charles Leclerc suggested the Mercedes engine may still not be running at full power.<\/p>\n

Regardless of whether others bring the fight to Toto Wolff’s team<\/a>, George Russell has a clear and consistent stance on the complaints other drivers are making about these regulations.<\/p>\n

When asked specifically about Lando Norris’ comments, the 28-year-old gave this response:<\/p>\n

“Yeah… I don\u2019t know. If he was winning, I don\u2019t think he\u2019d be saying the same,”<\/em> he said post-race.<\/p>\n

“You know, we weren\u2019t happy with how stiff the cars were last year and the porpoising, and everyone had a bad back and drivers were complaining about that. <\/em><\/p>\n

“But McLaren drivers said there was no porpoising, even though we watched their car and they were porpoising.<\/em><\/p>\n

“So, you know, everyone\u2019s always looking to themselves and we\u2019re all selfish in this regard. The truth is last year we had the same engine as them – and McLaren did a better job than us and they beat us.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Russell also pointed towards the fact Mercedes are not the only team with their power unit. The Silver Arrows are likely to reference this point with regularity in the coming months:<\/p>\n

“Now McLaren have got the same engine as us, the same as Williams and the same as Alpine. And so far we\u2019ve done a better job than them. So that\u2019s just how the game goes.” (continues on next page)<\/em><\/p>\n

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More scrutiny to follow Mercedes<\/h4>\n

It seems slightly ridiculous to suggest that Mercedes could still be ‘sandbagging’ after the season begins. After all, with the 2026 campaign now underway, the Silver Arrows do not need to hide their performance. At least, this is the surface-level interpretation of events.<\/p>\n

A more in-depth analysis would suggest that Toto Wolff’s team could still plausibly be keeping something in reserve. This is not to say Mercedes<\/a> are winning with one arm tied behind their pack – but perhaps there is still some margin to tap into.<\/p>\n

Simply put, it is to their benefit to win by the smallest margins possible.<\/p>\n

The bigger their advantage over other engine manufacturers, the more mid-season upgrades they are allowed to introduce. This is based on the ADUO system (Additional Development Upgrade Opportunities) for these 2026 regulations.<\/p>\n

In short, engine performance is measured between rounds 1-6, 7-13 and 14-24. Engine manufacturers<\/a> with a bigger deficit will be given more budget allocation and opportunities to develop.<\/p>\n

As a result, it makes logical sense for Mercedes not to push the absolute limits – assuming they have some performance in hand. To be clear, there is no guarantee the W18 is fast enough to win without operating at its upper limit.<\/p>\n

Ferrari’s performance on Sunday suggests the Silver Arrows will have at least some competition. Still, even as Russell and Mercedes suggest Ferrari could join them in an entertaining battle at the front, observers will be closely monitor to what extent the German manufacturer’s advantage is at genuine risk.<\/p>\n

Should Ferrari or Red Bull snatch a race victory in the early rounds, then this more cynical hypothesis can be rubbished. However, it cannot be denied that some drivers speculate Mercedes could yet unleash more horsepower at their disposal if necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Russell converted a commanding Pole Position into his first victory of the season in Australia, living up to the pre-season expectations about the Mercedes\u00a0package. Having spent months downplaying their pace, Mercedes eventually showed their hand at Albert Park. For rivals, the supremacy of the W18 vindicates their assessments and warnings from the winter break. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":39272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2582,1450,121],"class_list":["post-39271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2026-season","tag-george-russell","tag-mercedes"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39271"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39282,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39271\/revisions\/39282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}