George Russell would sacrifice cornering speed for better F1 2026 racing

George Russell insists he would sacrifice outright cornering speed if it means Formula 1 delivers closer, better racing under the 2026 regulations.

The new rules around how the car is designed and built have brought a lot of criticism, but Russell has defended the changes and suggested they will lead to better racing.

George Russell makes case for positives of F1 2026 rule changes

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Max Verstappen has led the charge of dissenting voices, while Fernando Alonso joked that the cornering speeds were now low enough that a “chef” could drive the Aston Martin. But Russell believes the changes make it easier to catch cars ahead.

“It definitely feels nice to be able to catch the cars much better than you could in the past,” he said.

“I think what’s clear is also to have slightly narrower tires, and I don’t know if they’re lighter, but the sort of suspension is probably a bit lighter, and just everything being narrower, that that weight is more centralised, so it doesn’t feel like such a big bus to be honest.

“Having to adjust for less downforce has been pretty easy, to be honest. Like you push the cars to the limit and it still feels really quick. You still feel like you’re on the edge of the grip.

“It’s only when you look back at the overlays of last year and you realise ‘oh Christ, you were 30-40kph faster in some high-speed corner’ but it didn’t really give us a lot.

“You always drive to that limit of the car. So if this helps racing and following closer, hopefully less tire overheating, if you go around the high-speed corner slower, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, right?”

Russell also defended the switch to more electric power, saying “you can’t tick every single box” and suggested it was elements like that which attracted Audi to the sport.

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“As with anything in life, you can’t tick every single box,” he said. “And you know, there’s more at stake, and when these regulations came into play, you know, there was obviously a huge push on EVs from like the EU and that was a big part for the likes of Audi to come in. So that’s going to be a consideration.

“And I think nobody can argue that Formula 1 isn’t in an amazing place currently, and it’s almost like a stepping stone. Of course, we want the best cars, the fastest cars. We want to tick all of the best racing. But how do you achieve all of those things? And how do you please everybody?

“I don’t know how you please everybody, and what we feel in this paddock as racing enthusiasts, maybe, you know, these new Netflix fans feel differently. We all want V10s and V8s, loud noises. But I think maybe some people from the grandstands quite like to be able to have a conversation while watching the race.

“So we’re privileged to be in this position and in all honesty, I just want to win.”

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