George Russell has been declared the championship favourite for the upcoming F1 season by former driver Karun Chandhok.
Mercedes enjoyed a highly successful shakedown event in Barcelona earlier this week, tallying 502 laps across the event - the most of any team.
As early as last year, rumblings of the strength of Mercedes' new power unit emerged as many picked the Brackley-based squad to commence the sport's new era on top, as they did in 2014 when the engines last went through a significant change.
Chandhok highlighted Mercedes' status as a works team will serve it well at the start of a new era, leading the Indian to select Russell as his early pick for the title.
“He [Russell] is my championship favourite,” Chandhok told Sky F1.
“What we're hearing from a lot of the drivers is the word 'systems'.
“This year, having a team from a chassis and power unit side as an integrated operation - which really, it's Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari [and Red Bull] - there are now four.
“Two of them have the excuse of being newbies, Audi and Red Bull.
“For Ferrari and Mercedes, there are no real excuses, because they are the works teams.”
Mercedes will also supply power units to McLaren, Williams and Alpine.
McLaren has enjoyed significant success over the last two years despite being a customer team, winning back-to-back constructors' titles and the drivers' championship with Lando Norris last season.
However, with such a major change coming to the engines this year, Chandhok stated the integrated Mercedes workforce across both sites will give the German manufacturer an advantage.
“And although, in terms of hardware, by regulation, McLaren and the other customers have to get the same power units as the works Mercedes team, I just think having both sides talking to each other so much more in an integrated way has to be an advantage in the early stage of this power unit regulation,” he said.
“For me, that puts George as the favourite for the season.”
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding for the first podcast of 2026! The duo look at some of the biggest topics ahead of the new season, including Max Verstappen remaining with Red Bull and the pressure which awaits Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Get the latest F1 news from RacingNews365 directly in your Google feed! Click on the link below and you’ll see your favourite F1 website appearing even more often. That way, you’ll never miss any news, analyses, interviews, or exclusives.
Follow RacingNews365 on GoogleMost read
In this article
Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.
Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar
A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..
Join the conversation!