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Toto Wolff explains George Russell's F1 Monaco GP qualifying struggles
motorsport.com·

Toto Wolff explains George Russell's F1 Monaco GP qualifying struggles

Mercedes Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that a loss of confidence in his machinery was the primary catalyst for George Russell's underwhelming performance during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.  Despite showing flashes of promise during the final practice session around Monte Carlo, the British driver struggled to replicate that form in qualifying. While his team-mate ...Keep reading

George Russell returns to karting roots with Toto and Susie Wolff during F1 break
motorsport.com·

George Russell returns to karting roots with Toto and Susie Wolff during F1 break

Mercedes Formula 1 driver George Russell has taken a trip down memory lane, returning to his early karting roots to support the next generation of motorsport talent, including Jack Wolff. Russell joined his Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff to watch their son at South Garda Karting.  "Same track, 23 years later! Very cool to be back at the kart track ...Keep reading

Toto Wolff admits George Russell faces Japanese GP challenge after Mercedes tweak backfires
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Toto Wolff admits George Russell faces Japanese GP challenge after Mercedes tweak backfires

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has warned that George Russell will face similar issues during the Japanese Grand Prix to those he battled against in qualifying. Wolff confirmed after qualifying that changes had been made to Russell's car ahead of today's session at the Suzuka circuit, which left the Briton fighting with too much oversteer. "We did a set-up tweak on the other side," the ...Keep reading

Ferrari reckons F1 Australian GP race showed its true form after "tough" qualifying
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Ferrari reckons F1 Australian GP race showed its true form after "tough" qualifying

Fred Vasseur reckons Ferrari failed to “put everything together” in qualifying for Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix with the much-improved race being more representative of its pace.  The Italian outfit finished third and fourth at the F1 2026 opener in Melbourne on Sunday, behind Mercedes pair George Russell and Kimi Antonelli who were also 1-2 in qualifying.  At one stage Charles ...Keep reading

George Russell backed for F1 title after 'hard yards' Mercedes experience
racingnews365.com·

George Russell backed for F1 title after 'hard yards' Mercedes experience

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle believes George Russell may be rewarded this year for the “hard yards” he has endured so far in his career. Russell joined the grid as a Mercedes junior driver in 2019, spending three uncompetitive years at the back of the field with Williams. In 2022, he received a promotion to Mercedes right as the Brackley-based squad suffered a slip down in the pecking order as a new regulation cycle came into play. The latest rules reset is in effect this year and following an impressive shakedown event from Barcelona, Mercedes is being tipped by many to lead the pack at the opening round of the year. Together with team-mate Kimi Antonelli, Brundle backed Russell to embark on a successful campaign for Mercedes. “He must sense there's a chance of a world championship here, George Russell,” Brundle told Sky F1. “Kimi Antonelli will be even closer to him this year. He's got that experience under his belt, he went on the missing list last year for nine races.  “But impressively, for such a young man, he kept his head together and brought that around and gave George a much closer run in the final stage of the season “They're two very well-matched drivers, but these cars will be quite flighty from time to time in certain conditions - safety car restarts, wet/dry, 'will it-won't it?' kind of moments.” With Russell entering his eighth F1 campaign, Brundle has backed the Briton to use his experience to come out on top in the head-to-head fight once again - but does not feel Antonelli is in danger of being ousted if he does not keep pace with his team-mate. “George's experience will show. If I had to guess, I'd put my money on George on season long. But those two will be mightily strong,” he said. “[Kimi] has got so much support in the team, so much support from Toto and everybody. “He's the heir apparent there. that's quite obvious. He doesn't have to keep looking over his shoulder all the time.  “He can just get Bono in his ear, which is brilliant for him. What a pairing. What a great lineup they've got.  “George looks very reassured, don't you think?  “He's spent a long time at Williams, He then moved to Mercedes just as they stopped winning a lot of everything, basically.  “He's put in the hard yards, and maybe this is his moment.”

George Russell shares surprising 'good news' after eye-catching Mercedes test
racingnews365.com·

George Russell shares surprising 'good news' after eye-catching Mercedes test

George Russell has joked that the new generation of F1 car will "save a few years on the back" after the eradication of porpoising. Throughout the ground-effects era, cars were prone to the aerodynamic phenomenon of bouncing as the underside of the floor stalled before quickly re-attaching, with the oscillation cycle known as porpoising. Multiple drivers initially reported major concerns in 2022, with Lewis Hamilton particularly suffering at the 2022 Azerbaijan GP, with his participation in the next race in Canada briefly in doubt.  The FIA stepped in during the season to make rule changes to reduce porpoising, but by the end of the ground effects era, it had returned, albeit to a lesser extent. For the 2026 generation of car, the conditions for porpoising have been removed with the floor of the car no longer required to as close as possible to the track surface to create downforce, with the 'rake' returning. This is the difference in ride height between the front and rear of the car, with the rear higher, under which Mercedes dominated in the old rules cycle between 2017 and 2021.  Reflecting on the first week of running with the 2026 breed of car, Russell, who completed a field-leading 265 laps of Mercedes' own chart-topping 502, felt the immediate improvement for the drivers.  "It's been a positive test; we had lots of mileage on the car, which was the main focus of the test," Russell reflected. "The car is feeling nice to drive, there are no major issues, and no porpoising, which is pretty good news for all of us. "It will save a few years on the back, so all in all, it was a decent few days. "The car has been working well, but it is not about how well it works; it is about how quickly it goes around the track, and we don't really have an indication of that at the moment. "But we're in a reasonably good place, but I'm sure things are going to change a lot between now and the next Bahrain test, and then I am sure people will be bringing upgrades to the car, so it is still very much early days."

Mercedes reveal Bahrain test insight after successful Barcelona shakedown
racingnews365.com·

Mercedes reveal Bahrain test insight after successful Barcelona shakedown

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has explained the team's approach to the upcoming Bahrain pre-season test. The Brackley-based squad enjoyed a highly positive Barcelona shakedown as George Russell and Kimi Antonelli clocked 502 laps between them throughout three days of running. Such was the efficiency of the event, Shovlin previously noted that Mercedes had ticked all of its boxes across the first two days of on-track action. Having given the W17 car its initial run at a Silverstone event prior to its appearance in Barcelona, Shovlin asserted both outings have proven successful for Mercedes. “For every event, whether it was the shakedown in Silverstone or the first test, we have an idea of what objectives we want to achieve,” he said.  “We've pretty much ticked all of those boxes for these two.” Bahrain will host two tests next month, running from February 11 - 13, before the final pre-season outing on February 18 - 20. Mercedes head to the Bahrain tests in strong shape as Shovlin outlined that the focus will shift more to extracting pace from the car. “Bahrain, we're going to move more to set up exploration, trying to work out how you get the car in the right window,” he said. “And while you can do setup here [in Barcelona], it's so cold, it's not really relevant to any race track.  “Bahrain is going to be a much better place to check that the car runs well at temperature, both in terms of the chassis performance side but also just the systems running effectively. “That final Bahrain [test] hopefully will be more just about the race preparation.  “So preparing for qualifying, preparing for the race, and all the situations that that throws up.”