George Russell takes aim at 'selfish' F1 team over 'silly' rule stance

George Russell has aimed criticism at a “selfish” F1 team who is refusing to bend to a rule change over race starts.

A new era of F1 got underway at the Australian Grand Prix last week as the fresh power unit cycle got its competitive debut.

Starting from pole position, Russell found himself in second place at the first corner as a fast-charging Charles Leclerc soared from fourth on the grid to the race lead.

Russell has revealed that his pace on the opening lap was hindered by a technical rule which limits how much energy can be harvested every lap.

The Briton explained that, as his starting position was ahead of the timing line, he was already limited on how much energy he could recover on the opening lap.

“There was an error that caught a lot of teams out, which was the harvest limit on the formation lap - a very quirky rule,” Russell told media including RacingNews365.

“Every lap there's a harvest limit. The drivers who started in the first half of the grid who were beyond the timing line, they were already within that lap. 

“So when you did your formation lap start, you're spending your battery, you're charging your battery, which goes towards your harvest limit.

“The drivers at the back, when they did their formation lap start, they then launched away, they crossed the start-finish line, and then it resets because they're effectively on the next lap. 

“So from what we did in the practice starts, we did the launch before this line, and it reset. 

“On the race start, I started from pole. I went on the throttle. I charged the battery, but it took like 50 per cent of my harvest limit for that lap. 

“So when I got halfway around the track, I could no longer charge the battery. The FIA were looking to potentially adjust that.”

While Russell did not name the team that is against making a rule to the change, it was Ferrari who undoubtedly had the strongest start with Leclerc to snatch an early-race advantage.

Russell added: “But as you can imagine, some teams who were making good starts didn't want it, which I think is just a little bit silly.

“I'm not overly concerned, but it's definitely a challenge.”

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Russell highlights frustration at 'unnecessary complications'

Ferrari's rapid starts were first spotted at pre-season testing, and its true advantage was realised in Melbourne when the lights went out.

Although Leclerc was able to stay in touch with Russell across the opening segment of the race, it was the latter who came out on top ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

In order to make a change to the rule, the FIA requires a super majority stance from the teams, which Russell conceded “they don't have”.

Russell highlighted his belief that the strong starts seen elsewhere on the grid do not stem from the harvesting limit.

“You can probably guess which team is against that [rule change],” Russell said. “I don't think their gain is coming from this issue.

“Now the teams know the problem, we'll just drive around it, but it's just creating a bit of unnecessary complications to something that doesn't really need to be there. 

“Half the grid messed up in Melbourne, we'll adjust, we know what we need to be wary of now.

“The FIA just want to make our lives easier and just remove this harvest limit. But as is often [the case], people have selfish views and they want to do what's best for themselves.

“That's part of F1, and part of the challenge of F1. We'll deal with it, the starts here will be will be much better.”