George Russell calls out 'premature heat' after heavy F1 criticism

George Russell has labelled the "heat" the new F1 regulations received from some of his fellow drivers "premature" as he moved to defend the revamped rules.

The Briton highlighted the rapid "rate of improvement" seen at the start of any era in F1, pointing out that the new cars are not drastically slower than they were at the end of the contemporary ground effects era, which concluded at the end of last year.

His comments come in response to this harsh verdict handed down by some of his rival drivers, notably Max Verstappen, who branded the development "anti-racing" and likened the championship's new direction to "Formula E on steroids" due to the extreme energy management requirements of the new power units.

The understanding of the new regulations has already come a long way within the paddock since the private shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and the volume of the detractors has quietened over the second and final official test in Bahrain.

With the situation more settled this week, and a seemingly greater level of satisfaction following an F1 Commission meeting on Wednesday, Russell was asked where he feels the greatest improvements have been made.

Speaking to media, including RacingNews365, the Mercedes driver replied: "I do think there has been a lot of progression, to be honest.

"Every 'day one' of a new set of regulations, you face challenges that you weren't anticipating, and the rate of improvement is very steep in those early days — and I think this test has been a much smoother test for everyone."

The five-time grand prix winner used the opportunity to talk up the new cars and talk down the deficit to the era that came before.

"If you actually look at the lap times and some of the race runs, the cars aren't actually a million miles away from the lap times we were seeing 12 months ago, and that was year four of a set of regulations," he said.

"I know there was a lot of heat after Barcelona and [the first] Bahrain [test], which was probably a little bit premature. I think on the whole, people are a bit happier this week."