Mercedes is faced with its first major concern of 2026 as George Russell admits the team is struggling to cope with Formula 1‘s latest start procedures.
Despite having exhausted three pre-season testing events this year, teams are still unearthing new gremlins with their packages as they get to grips with F1’s latest technical overhaul.
One of the biggest revamps has been on the power unit side of things. Not only has the engine become a true hybrid with a 50-50 split between electric and combustion propulsion, the MGU-H has also been removed in favor of a punchier MGU-K.
This has sprouted sweeping concern across the grid in terms of race start procedures.
With the MGU-H gone, the turbo lag at low revs is causing drivers a world of pain in terms of getting the ideal start configuration.
McLaren boss Andreas Stella had recently urged the FIA to look into this and propose a quick remedy.
The former Ferrari man had insisted how this could descend into a serious safety concern. Now, Russell has doubled down on this with his own bad experiences during the pre-season tests held at the Bahrain International Circuit across the last two weeks.
The Briton has struggled to get off the line in his W17 – almost losing his car on one occasion as he lit the rear wheels up of the Mercedes.
George Russell warns Mercedes of wasted potential with drastic W17 shortcoming
Russell is being touted as one of the favorites to challenge for the title this season. The German marque has arguably produced a competitive power unit, and the Silver Arrows look like the benchmark of the field heading into Melbourne for the season-opener in March.
That said, despite a strong package, Russell is more concerned about getting off the line safely in the first place.
“I think we’ve got a lot of potential beneath us,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “But to win a race, you’ve also got to get off the line quite well.”
The 28-year-old dubbed his practice starts with the 2026 cars “worse than my worst ever” start in his entire F1 career.
Russell explained how Mercedes is acutely aware of the ramifications this gremlin could have on their competitive hopes this season but conceded that as things stand, they are devoid of any concrete solutions.
“I think the two starts I’ve made this week worse than my worst ever start in Formula 1,” he added.
“At this stage, I don’t think it matters how quick you are, the thing that’s going to trip you up is going to be that tallest hurdle, and that’s what we’re trying to get our heads around right now.
“And yeah, we’re stumbling on some at the moment.”
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