George Russell reveals surprising major Mercedes upgrade switch

George Russell believes F1's upgrade arms race will be delayed until the Canadian GP - in a departure from the recent norm. 

In recent times, F1 teams have traditionally delivered big upgrade packages at the Miami Grand Prix, the first event after the busy opening period of the season. 

This year, Miami falls as the first race following the April shutdown following the cancellation of the events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with teams also set to grapple with the new energy rules announced by the FIA after concerns across the first three races.

Looking ahead to the resumption of the campaign, in which his Mercedes squad have won those first three grands prix, including in Australia for Russell, the Briton has hinted that Mercedes will opt to delay its first big package of new parts until the Montreal weekend at the end of May. 

"I'm ready to get back to it, to be honest," Russell explained at the opening of KART Silverstone, with RacingNews365 in attendance.

"It was such an intense start to the year when you go from Australia, China, Japan, and the body-clock is all over the place, and then with the break coming up, you think: 'Okay, it's a bit of an opportunity to reset, recharge,' and after about five days, it is like: 'Right, I want to get back to it.'

"We're in a really strong position at the moment, and usually Miami is the race where teams bring their first major upgrade, but with how the calendar has fallen this year, that is now moving to Montreal.

"Montreal is where we're going to maybe see a small shift, if anybody is to close the gap to us. We've got a bit in our pocket that we're going to try and bring to Canada, but the sport is so complex.

"The new regulations have given exciting racing, but it is really complicated for the drivers, and the FIA have done a good job to make that easier, but hopefully, it keeps us on top. 

"And as long as it does, I don't really care about the rest."