George Russell pinpoints major F1 'hurdle' with 'worst-ever' warning

George Russell has branded F1 race starts the "tallest hurdle" to overcome heading into the 2026 F1 season.

The Mercedes driver experienced a pair of practice starts during testing at the Bahrain International Circuit that he claimed were "worse than my worst-ever start in Formula 1."

It was a contentious subject over the six days of running in Sakhir, with changes to the power unit regulations creating difficulties for drivers off the line.

With the MGU-H removed from the new designs, and drivers not permitted to use the MGU-K to spool the turbo on their way to the grid, they are having to do that process manually once they reach their grid box.

This is posing a problem for most teams, especially those expecting to line up further down the field, as it can take up to 10 seconds to get the turbo up to speed, before then having to maintain that through high revs whilst performing the rest of the start procedure.

This tricky balance and the associated safety concerns led teams to lobby the FIA on altering the start process. The governing body agreed to trial a new system during the final three days of testing.

Nonetheless, the Ferrari-powered cars have retained their advantage off the line, due to the Italian team designing a smaller turbo after the FIA was unmoved by the Scuderia's concerns about this problem a year ago.

So when Russell was asked about Mercedes being the favourite this year, he was quick to latch onto the mention of Ferrari's "rocket starts" to sidestep addressing the matter at hand.

"I think we've got a lot of potential beneath us," the five-time grand prix winner told media, including RacingNews365.

"But to win a race, you've also got to get off the line quite well," he added to underline that any advantage could be for nought.

"And I think the two starts I've made this week were worse than my worst-ever start in Formula 1."

One of Lewis Hamilton's practice starts went viral after the seven-time F1 drivers' champion beat Russell into the first corner, having lined up on the fifth row, with his compatriot starting from pole.

"Lewis, down in P11 [P10], got into P1," Russell continued in reference to that stunning launch from Hamilton.

"So 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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