Story byMotorsport photoEd HardyMon, February 2, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC·4 min readFormula 1 2026 world championship favourite George Russell is confident Mercedes has produced a strong car for the upcoming season - but refused to declare it a potential title contender. This year, F1 will introduce a whole new set of regulations with changes to both the chassis and power unit and as everything is new, the pecking order is currently a guessing game. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut expectations are high at Mercedes, considering the Silver Arrows dominated the last engine switch in 2014 by winning the next eight championships, while it also enjoyed a strong Barcelona shakedown last week. It completed the most mileage of any team and Russell’s team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli even conducted a full race simulation, causing engineering director Andrew Shovlin to claim “I don’t think we could have hoped for a better three days of testing”. This has led to Russell topping the odds for this year’s title, especially after his strongest season yet in 2025 with fourth in the standings and to many, being the best driver behind Max Verstappen. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut he is still wary of his rivals with two official Bahrain tests to come before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 6-8 March.“Obviously we've only driven the car for three days and it's still very early days, but it doesn't look like it's a turd, which is a bonus,” said the five-time grand prix winner at the Mercedes 2026 launch on Monday. Russell enters his eighth season and looks set to finally contend for his maiden titleRussell enters his eighth season and looks set to finally contend for his maiden title“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. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“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.
