George Russell: Mercedes driver would relish Max Verstappen F1 title fight in 2026 as Red Bull engine catches eye
"The truth is there could be a good fight on our hands," says pre-season title favourite George Russell about Mercedes' rivals into F1's new era; watch every round of the 2026 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8
Monday 2 February 2026 21:11, UK
George Russell says Mercedes' 2026 car is already "ticking the boxes" for the team on track but that it is "way too early" to tell whether it will prove to be a title winner.
And Russell admits they have been "quite surprised" by some of their rivals' early form in testing - particularly Red Bull, who have produced their own engine for the first time.
Russell and Mercedes have been installed as the bookmakers' pre-season favourites for this year's Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, respectively, with the latter long tipped to excel in F1's new era of regulations which feature revised engine and chassis rules.
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Mercedes appeared to underline their status as likely front-runners by completing the most laps, 500, of any team at least week's Barcelona shakedown, with their new W17 showing strong reliability immediately.
"Obviously we've only driven the car for three days and it's still very early days but, quoting Toto [Wolff], it doesn't look like it's a turd, which is a bonus," said Russell as Mercedes formally launched their 2026 season on Monday.
"To be honest, in the early days like this, you know when it could be a really bad car and you can highlight those negatives early on. We don't believe it is but is it a car that can produce a world championship?
"It's still way too early to see and we've been quite surprised by what we've seen from some of our rivals, especially on the Red Bull power unit side, that looks very impressive considering they're a completely new outfit and reliable as well, so kudos to them.
"We've had a very reliable test but we'll have to wait and see if the car lives up to the expectation."
Mercedes are aiming to return to world championship contention in 2026 after a frustrating four-season spell in which they were usurped as F1's leading team by first Red Bull and then McLaren.
But despite the external hype around their 2026 prospects, Russell says Mercedes have deliberately not got carried away after suffering disappointment when F1's technical rules last changed in 2022.
"Definitely we wanted to reel in expectations because as confident as we were that there weren't going to be any crazy unknowns or unforeseen things happening with the car like we saw with porpoising, we still didn't know," said Russell.
"Nobody expected porpoising in '22 so you couldn't discount everything right now. But that's why I think we left Barcelona with a positive feeling because the car reacted as we anticipated.
"The numbers we're seeing from the aero on the car match what we see back on the simulator. How the car is handling is matching how it feels on the simulator. This is something we've not really experienced since 2021 as a team.
"We're sort of ticking the boxes on everything that we want to tick but we can't discount our rivals. As I said there was a lot of talk around the Red Bull power unit not being up to standard year one. From what we've seen so far they've definitely delivered.
"Ferrari power unit looks reliable, they did lots of laps not far behind us over the course of the test, and from a power unit side Haas did loads of laps as well with the Ferrari engine.
"So the truth is there could be a good fight on our hands, but we're satisfied with what we've experienced so far."
'I do want to go head-to-head with Max' - Russell assesses likely title contenders
The 27-year-old Russell is preparing for his eighth season in F1 but this year would be the first time he has contended for the world championship should Mercedes provide the car to win races on a consistent basis.
A competitive debut year for Red Bull's first power unit would also likely keep four-time champion Verstappen - who has contended for the title in all of the last five seasons - right in the hunt at the front too.
"I'd love for it to turn out that way," said Russell of a battle against Verstappen.
"I do want to go head to head with Max and obviously Lando [Norris] had a great season last year. But no, [being title favourite] doesn't add any more pressure.
"Probably the fans and people were expecting, you know, to potentially be Mercedes versus McLaren because there was a lot of anticipation that Mercedes would clearly have the best power unit.
"But it seems like the other power unit manufacturers have done a good job and we know that Red Bull have always had an amazing car, even through the years of dominance of Mercedes it was their engine that was letting them down, not their car. And we obviously know how good Max is.
"So I think he's very much going to be in the fight this year and that is great. You obviously wish that you'd have a slightly easier time of it. But it should never be easy and if you're going to win, you want to have fought for it and won it fair and square on track."
Russell believes while there are early signs that the established top-four teams will all still be in the mix at the front this year, when Lando Norris and Mercedes-powered McLaren are the defending champions, he also thinks Aston Martin and their "spectacular" first Adrian Newey car design cannot be discounted either.
"The best-case scenario from the sport and also for the drivers is that you've got a number of different drivers and a number of different teams all battling it out," he added.
"And I think at the moment it does look like Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and ourselves are, let's say, the four teams that are all quite close within one another.
"But you can't discount what you've seen from Aston Martin and what Adrian has done with that car. It looks pretty spectacular.
"Honda over the past few years with Red Bull have had a very good engine beneath them, so we also know what they're capable of. So that would be awesome to see a big fight."
When is F1 Bahrain pre-season testing?
The introduction of new regulations means there is a robust schedule of three separate testing events before the start of the 2026 season.
With the closed Barcelona Shakedown now complete, F1 will next head to Bahrain for two 'official' pre-season tests, when media will be present and live timing from the circuit available.
Two three-day Bahrain tests take place on February 11-13 and 18-20.
When is the first F1 race?
The teams then have two weeks to prepare for the opening round of the season, which is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne from March 6-8.
The first practice sessions of the season will take place on Friday March 6, with Qualifying on Saturday March 7 and the opening race on Sunday March 8.
Watch every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, starting with the Australian Grand Prix from March 6-8. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
