George Russell warns ‘standout’ Aston Martin could be a threat in 2026

Mercedes driver George Russell labelled the Aston Martin AMR26 the “most standout in terms of car design” at the F1 2026 Barcelona shakedown, and warned it could prove a threat at the front of the field.

Russell was a near-constant presence at the top of the unofficial timesheet in Barcelona as Mercedes enjoyed a faultless performance, while Aston Martin only debuted its new car in the final hour of day four.

George Russell: ‘You can’t discount what you’ve seen from Aston Martin’

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Russell and his teammate Kimi Antonelli are widely reported to have notched up 500 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya between them last week, with Mercedes seemingly keeping its tag of pre-season favourite at this stage.

The Briton pointed out Red Bull’s power unit success as it brings its own in-house design to the grid for the first time, and he highlighted the Adrian Newey-penned Aston Martin as looking impressive to the eye.

He did point out, however, it will only be known how fast it is once the sport heads to the season opener in Melbourne next month.

“I think the Aston Martin was probably the most standout in terms of the car design,” Russell told PlanetF1.com and other outlets.

“I think everybody was looking at that rear suspension and it obviously visually looks very impressive, but it’s not a competition of how sexy it is, it’s a competition of how fast it goes around the track.

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“So, people always look towards the fastest car, and we’ll find that out in Melbourne, and whoever that is, that will be the car that you wish to try and take inspiration from.”

Aston Martin’s appearance late on Thursday afternoon caused a stir, with a number of innovative design choices from the Newey-led operation.

For F1 2026, Aston Martin has partnered with Honda to become the Japanese giant’s factory team, having previously supplied Red Bull during its most recent run of championships.

However, the consensus from the Barcelona shakedown is that Mercedes will be among the front-runners, if not the team to beat as the sport moves onto official testing in Bahrain, given its impressive reliability.

Even so, Russell adopted a wary approach, noting there will likely be several other teams in the mix at the front within close range.

Though Aston Martin completed the lowest mileage of the Barcelona test (with Williams not appearing in Spain), the Silverstone-based team cannot be discounted from the front-running conversation just yet.

“I think the best case scenario for 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 noted.

“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’s looked pretty spectacular.

“And 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.

“I remember it was 2012 [or] 2010, I think it was, when you had the McLarens, Fernando [Alonso] and the Red Bulls all fighting. That’s what the sport is about, and that’s what we hope it will be about this year.”

Official pre-season testing will begin in Bahrain from 11-13 February, before another three days of pre-season running from 18-20 February – with the opening round of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, taking place from 6-8 March.

Additional reporting by Mat Coch

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