George Russell for some is the next great F1 driver to come out of Great Britain, yet for others he has proven to be somewhat of a whinger. His spat with Max Verstappen towards the end of the 2024 season, saw him publicly call out the world champion as a “bully” and a “cheat.”
Whilst there may have been some element of intimidation George had felt by Verstappen’s response to the British driver begging the stewards to punish the Dutchman for driving too slowly in qualifying, as the director of the Grand Prix Driver’s Association, his rhetoric was inappropriate given his position as a representative of all the drivers.
Given the smallest opportunity, George is ready to bad mouth his rivals whilst they compete on track, in an effort to get race control to punish them. The examples are many, but last time out in Australia was the latest case in point.
Russell complains about Leclerc’s driving standards
Whilst many of the fans were thrilled by the duel between the Mercedes driver and Charles Leclerc for the lead of the race, Russell took to the radio to complain over the Ferrari driver’s defensive tactics. Having oncer again taken the lead along the straight after turn 10, Leclerc moved to the right to defend his position which de did successfully.
TV images showed the closing speed between the two cars was dramatic as the Mercedes roared up behind the Ferrari.
“That was very dangerous by Leclerc, especially [after] what we spoke about in the briefing,” reported boy George over the radio with the intention of catching the race stewards attention.
In fact what had happened was Leclerc’s ferrari had run out of battery following his overtake, and with the massive amount of electrical power available in the new 2026 cars, this meant the car slowed substantially. Russell to was on the push to pass button, more in hope than with a real chance to retake the lead – this led to the dramatic closing speeds.
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Its a topic that has been discussed for months, how the electrical power output of the new cars is way too much. Yet George Russell’s boss Toto Wolff refused to countenance a change to the rules, when his nemesis Christian Horner suggested this would happen back in the summer of 2023.
But we digress. Back to Melbourne and George was not done with his Ferrari bashing on his cruise to victory. Having stopped for fresh tyres he came upon Lewis Hamilton up ahead who was still on the rubber he started the race with. Un-televised team radio now reveals Russell describing the seven times world champion as “MEGA dangerous” as once again Russell attempted to make a move on the Mercedes driver.
“So much movement in the straight when these guys are defending. It’s MEGA dangerous,” whined Russell who appears completely programmed to report anything and everything to race control which happens in close combat on track.
Yet George has been well trained by Mercedes and his latest role for the team is in the unfolding propaganda war over whether Mercedes are sandbagging over the power of their new V6 turbo hybrid engine. Despite qualifying a massive 0.9 seconds ahead of the next non-Mercedes AMG F1 driver, Russell appeared unable to pull away from the Ferrari’s once he had control of the race in the lead.
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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz amongst a number of respected veteran paddock reports claimed Mercedes were sandbagging, with a knowing look to camera in his post race “notebook” review. And why would Mercedes want to win in Australia by 40 seconds from their nearest rival, when the FIA will then allow the rest of the field “catchup” concessions if the team from Brackley are too far ahead?
Russell was on message in this respect too in a bizarre exchange with Charles Leclerc in the cool down room in Melbourne. As the drivers were watching the race highlights and waiting for the presentation, Russell instigated a discussion on the pace of his rivals out of nowhere.
”You were NOT slow,” he insisted demonstrably to Leclerc, repeating again “you were NOT slow,”. Charles responded with a wry grin, referencing the chasm in between Russell and his qualifying time, “Yeah but… Yesterday guys,” he shrugged in a knowing fashion.
Russell was almost too quick to hit back, “I think you guys screwed up Q3, because no one really improved [except us],” to which Leclerc refused to respond. In the moment it felt like George Russell was ‘on message’ with a pre-prepared polemic to assuage any accusations that Mercedes had turned down their power unit after qualifying and before the Australian Grand Prix.
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Russell on his soapbox again
Now in China, Russell is on message once again. When asked whether this was Mercedes season given the dominant performance of the powertrain, the driver from Kings Lynn insisted the year will be “quite a close fight between ourselves and Ferrari.”
On his soapbox again, George went on to promote the notion that Ferrari’s race pace is as strong as that of Mercedes. “when you look at Ferrari… they were basically doing the same lap times as us” during the Australian Grand Prix. Now Russell even includes the likes of Red Bull and McLaren, suggesting the year could be a four way battle for the championships.
Whilst Honda trailing around at the back and failing to complete even half a race distance will certainly be allowed concessions under the FIA’s “Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities” (ADUO) for failing powertrain manufacturers, Mercedes are desperate to ensure Audi, Red Bull and Ferrari do not get the same opportunity.
A mere 2% power deficit to Mercedes would see their rivals allowed one additional in season upgrade to their engines. A deficit greater than 4% means two extra upgrades, and more finance allowed above the cost cap and dyno time to improve their competitiveness.
Unfortunately, we’ll be hearing a lot about the Mercedes advantage over the field but the fun fact we don’t wish to know, is every team finishing the season opener in Melbourne 1-2 has gone on to dominate both championships.
(Williams 1996, McLaren 1998, Ferrari 2004, Brawn 2009, Mercedes 2015/16)
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NEXT ARTICLE – Max Verstappen makes headlines: F1 retirement statement with endurance racing plans
Max Verstappen hints at future beyond Formula 1 – Speculation about Max Verstappen’s long-term future in Formula 1 has intensified after the Dutch driver again suggested that he may eventually step away from the sport. Speaking ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, the Red Bull star indicated that his career ambitions extend beyond the Formula 1 grid.
“I don’t just want to be a Formula 1 driver,” he said when discussing his long-term plans. The 28-year-old made it clear that he is increasingly interested in competing in major endurance racing events, suggesting that he may gradually shift his focus towards other forms of motorsport in the coming years.
Although Verstappen did not announce an immediate departure from Formula 1, his comments have reignited the debate about how long the reigning champion intends to remain in the sport…. CONTINUE READING
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