Formula 1 rivals should be more worried about “scary” Red Bull progress says George Russell after scrutiny increases over Mercedes’ 2026 power unit.
The opening pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit, this week, has concluded after a three-day programme run by all the 11 teams on the 2026 grid.
And while no pecking order can be ascertained just yet, an interesting narrative has already started developing.
The winter break was full of rumors of both Red Bull and Mercedes having nailed their respective power units. But what irked its rivals were the reports of the advantage it had not being strictly within the spirit of the regulations.
This particular engine saga took an interesting turn when it was supposed that it was in fact the Milton-Keynes-based outfit that tipped off Mercedes’ rivals about the “compression ratio” trick after failing to replicate it.
After a couple of technical meetings with the FIA, there is strong lobbying from the likes of Ferrari, Audi and Honda to ban this apparent exploit before the season starts.
Russell, however, after seeing Red Bull’s progress between the private shakedown at Barcelona, in January, and now, at Bahrain, is more worried about their performance than the impending clampdown the FIA might have waiting in the wings.
“Well, I do think this test has been a bit of a reality check for all of us,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“Firstly, a huge amount of chat regarding Mercedes and our power unit in the winter, all of which is speculation because nobody knows anything at that point.
“And the truth is, Red Bull in Barcelona day 1 hit the ground running and were well ahead of all of their competitors, so ourselves, Ferrari and the others. Day 1 here in Bahrain again, they sort of knocked it out of the park.
“So at the moment they’re very much the team to beat. It’s quite straightforward when you have three days of testing in the same location to make those improvements.
“But when you get to Melbourne and you’ve got three hours of practise before qualifying, based on what we’ve seen in Barcelona and Bahrain, Red Bull are going to be ahead. So, yeah, we’ve got work to do.”
George Russell advises F1 rivals to focus on “scary” Red Bull over Mercedes
With the all new engine regulations, the advantage one manufacturer holds over the others could be quite substantial in the long running.
Naturally, the focal talking point in the paddock now is to curb the advantage Mercedes seem to have with its power units.
Suggestions include changing the inspection method and even putting sensors on the cars to monitor the compression and power unit metrics in real time.
George Russell believes that the hype behind the Silver Arrows‘ engine is only leaving Red Bull’s “scary” RB22 package unnoticed – something he strongly advises against.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t really know much about this, and that was from what I understand leaked from other team members who have moved around,” Russell addressed regarding the rumors about Mercedes’ 2026 engine.
“I don’t think anybody should really be looking at us you should be looking at the most competitive car on the grid which right now is the Red Bull and they’re not just a small step ahead.
“You’re talking in the order of half a second to a second in deployment over the course of a lap so it’s pretty scary to see that difference and Red Bull have always delivered a very good car over the past 15 years even when they didn’t have a great engine so this test has been really eye-opening for a lot of us.”
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